Press Statement – 18 November, 2021
The people of Goa have lost a great deal due to the manner in which Iron Ore Mining has been conducted in the state under successive Governments, over several decades.
This has resulted primarily from a system in which the government, at its sole discretion, has granted mining leases to certain parties without conducting auctions or indeed without employing any kind of competitive bidding process.
Consequently, the revenue to the state has been minimal, coming primarily from a ‘royalty’ fee calculated as a very small percentage of the deemed value of the ore mined.
The loss to the people has been compounded by successive governments failing to recover identified revenue leakages due to other forms of illegality committed by lease-holders such as mining above designated limits, mining during times when it was not permitted, mining in areas outside the boundaries of leases, dumping in non-designated areas, and so on.
Furthermore, whatever small amounts were earned by the state have been spent by it, leaving no money for future generations of Goans.
The Goenchi Mati Movement (GMM) has advocated a different approach to mining, which would address all these issues (see our presentation at https://bit.ly/GoaMiningRestartPPT for details).
The principal features of this approach involve: 1) Mining either directly by the state, or by parties who are granted leases through a fair and transparent auction process, which attracts a large number of bidders – thus securing high premiums; 2) the proceeds of such mining or auctions being invested in a professionally managed fund, for perpetuity, with the real earnings of the fund being distributed annually, also in perpetuity, to the people of Goa through a dividend; and 3) the recovery of the proceeds of illegal mining done in the past, with these amounts also being invested in the fund.
Both the Aam Aadmi Party and Goa Su-Raj Party have supported our proposals in the past. However, we particularly welcome the level of detail and commitment expressed by the All India Trinamool Congress Party (TMC) in support of the proposals of Goa Foundation and the Goenchi Mati Manifesto over recent days & we hope the TMC will faithfully implement all the actions advocated by GMM.
Vishal Rawlley, member of Goenchi Mati Movement said: “We wholeheartedly support the TMC in these pledges. We also encourage other political parties to both give serious thought to this pressing issue which could make a huge difference to the lives of Goans for generations to come, and to express their views in a similarly detailed and meaningful manner.”
Minerals are a shared inheritance of the people and it is our duty to ensure that this inheritance is protected. Only if we do that, may we consume some of its fruit. If we turn a blind eye to losses not only are we adversely affected but so are our children and those of future generations.
The Goenchi Mati Movement is a single issue movement which is by policy not aligned with political parties. GMM has asked parties to endorse and incorporate the Goenchi Mati Manifesto into their manifestos for the Goa Assembly elections of 2022. The Goenchi Mati Manifesto is available at goenchimati.org/manifesto.It is available in English, with translations into Konkani (Devnagari, Romi), Marathi, Hindi and Portuguese. Show your support at goenchimati.org/support. Aamchi Mati Aamka Zai!
Media contact: Rahul Basu, # +91 800 76 36 488