With Centre mum, mining-hit plan one-day Goa bandh

New Delhi/Panaji: Upset by the lukewarm response of the central government to the three-day dharna in New Delhi demanding resumption of mining in the state, the mining dependants have decided to hold a one-day Goa bandh to press for their demand even as representation was submitted to the government for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s intervention.
Puti Gaonkar, president of Goa Mining People’s Front (GMPF), the umbrella organisation of the mining dependant people, warned that if the government failed to restart mining, “the BJP will get the same reply they got in Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh.
“Thousands of mining dependants agitated for the past three days for a just cause but the central government has not responded to the aspiration of the people. It’s a big question whether the government wants to restart mining and give employment to the people living in the mining belt.”
Speaking to TOI after the three-day protest ended, Gaonkar said that the mining dependants will hold a one-day Goa bandh between December 26 and 31. The exact date will be finalised at a meeting of the stakeholders to be held on December 19, he said.
Gaonkar said the BJP leadership may not have realised that it’s not just the question of employment for the large section of the Goan populatio living in the state’s hinderland but it’s also the qeustion of Goa’s economy. “We are clear about it: The Goa government will not be able to run without resumptin of mining. Currently they are struggling for lack of funds. From where will they get revenue?,” Gaonkar said.
More than a thousand people from Goa had been camping in the national capital for the past three days to raise their demand of resumption of mining activities in the state.
On Thursday, several other political functionaries including former Prime Minister H D Deve Gauda, former Goa RSS chief Subhash Velingkar, who is with the Goa Suraksha Manch, met the agitators. Velingkar slammed the BJP saying they have no feeling for the people who are suffering due to the closure of mining in the state. Former chief minister Luizinho Faleiro, Goa opposition leader Chandrakant Kavlekar, state NCP leader Jose Philip D’Souza were among those present.
BJP MLA from Bicholim Rajesh Patnekar, who went to express solidarity with them, was jeered by the agitators for the “false promises being made by the BJP”.
They also expressed their ire against MGP’s executive president Narayan Sawant. They demanded that if the regional party was with the people, then MGP should withdraw support to the BJP-led government. Sawant said the party has set December 19 as the date to decide on the issue.
Gowda assured the protesters that he will take their issue in Parliament and, if needed, would also raise it with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The union leaders are hoping to get their demands heard in Parliament’s winter session and if that doesn’t happen, they are ready to intensify their protest in the Capital as well in Goa.
The group submitted a memorandum to the Prime Minister’s Office on Thursday. The protesters had started their protest from Ramlila Maidan on Tuesday and then went to Jantar Mantar on Thursday.
Sharing their demands, Puti Gaonkar, said the memorandum has been signed and approved by over 3 lakh people affected by the ban in Goa.
Voicing the basic demand, the protesters said the mining operations can be restarted if the government issues an ordinance to amend section two of the Goa Daman and Diu Mining Concessions (Abolition and Seclaration as Mining Leases) Act, 1987.
In the memorandum submitted to the PMO, the union has also shown the signatures of 35 civic bodies and equal number of MLAs who have supported their demand of resumption of mining activities in Goa. They have also warned that if a solution doesn’t come out quickly, more people are going to lose their livelihood in the state.