Home India Goa stares at loss of revenue, jobs; MLAs ask ‘where is govt’

Goa stares at loss of revenue, jobs; MLAs ask ‘where is govt’

It is learnt that when a delegation of ministers and MLAs met Union Minister for Shipping Nitin Gadkari and Union Minister for Railways and Coal Piyush Goyal, they too asked why the cabinet hadn’t met yet to discuss the matter.

The move comes at a time when 62-year-old Parrikar is admitted in the AIIMS in Delhi for a pancreatic ailment.

With the Supreme Court deadline to stop mining operations in Goa closing in, and Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar away for treatment in the US, confusion and panic within the coalition government in the state is showing. Since Parrikar left for the US on March 8, and with no deputy appointed, the cabinet has not been convened. The apex court had in February quashed the second renewal of mining leases granted by the state government.

Following the order, the midnight of March 15 was set by Goa State Directorate of Mines and Geology as deadline to stop mining operations. While the strongest option laid down in the judgment is of auctioning the mines after a fresh set of environmental clearance, in the current situation, the legislators are expecting a revenue loss of Rs 3,500 crore and loss of employment for at least 70,000 people.

Curchorem MLA Nilesh Cabral from BJP, who recently led a delegation of mine owners to Delhi, said, “Whose government is this? Where is the government? I do not know.” Cabral has demanded that Goa Daman and Diu Mining Concession (Abolition and Declaration as Mining Leases) Act, 1987, be amended to allow leases (concession granted by erstwhile Portuguese rulers) to continue beyond the apex court deadline. He and a few MLAs have been asking for allowing mines to run till the state is ready for the auction protocol.

“In the last cabinet meeting which discussed this, the CM assured us that if everyone is on the same page, he will take this to the PM, Cabral told The Indian Express. Asked about his statement on the state of government and governance, he said, “Right now, the Chief Minister is indisposed. He has left three cabinet ministers with instructions, but they are not empowered to take decisions. The hour demands that we look at constitutional provisions and elect a deputy, or a chairperson to the cabinet, with the agreement of the allies. Such serious decisions cannot be left to the current mechanism,” said Cabral.

It is learnt that when a delegation of ministers and MLAs met Union Minister for Shipping Nitin Gadkari and Union Minister for Railways and Coal Piyush Goyal, they too asked why the cabinet hadn’t met yet to discuss the matter. BJP MLA Michael Lobo said, “The first job cuts will happen at the port as there will be no ore to trade. Six constituencies stand to loose. The situation is alarming.”

“We are sure that the CM will return and start clearing files. There is a question in peoples’ mind, if there is a need to think of a second man and I am sure the party in Delhi and Goa must be thinking, but all that will happen only after Manohar Parrikar says so. There can be a situation where the allies, MGP and Goa Forward, merge with us. But right now, the urgent crisis is the mining deadline and we need a functioning government to handle this,” Lobo told The Indian Express.

At a press meet earlier, Lobo said, “When the government was formed, some leaders came from the Centre, Nitin Gadkari also came. Let the government from the Centre come here and address the coalition government on what is the line of action.”

Before he left for the US, the General Administration Department headed by Parrikar issued an order defining a cabinet advisory committee comprising PWD minister Ramakrishna ‘Sudin’ Dhavalikar of MGP, town and country planning minister Vijai Sardesai of Goa Forward and urban development minister Francis D’Souza, the seniormost BJP minister in the cabinet. The committee has been assigned powers to sanction work orders of up to Rs 5 crore, while all ministerial decisions concerning Finance, Home and Personnel have been retained by the CM, with approvals either relayed through video conferencing or via the Principal Secretary.

Ramakant Khalap, senior leader of Opposition Congress, said, “We are looking at a law and order situation. Empowering an advisory committee with a financial mark is not the solution. There are decisions which need to be taken soon, which may not involve expenditure but governance.” MGP, which is part of the ruling coalition, is not happy with the arrangement either. “MGP joined as an ally on the condition that he (Parrikar) is the leader, and now with him in US, we want that Sudin be made head of cabinet till he returns. On mining, Sudin and the party are clear and we are appealing to the Centre that till auction starts, at least give some monetary package to affected families. But, to table this and to execute the resolution, we need a cabinet and a head of a cabinet,” said MGP president Deepak Dhavalikar.

State BJP chief Vinay Tendulkar told The Indian Express, “We are aware of all this. Mining is a serious issue and we are going with an appeal to the Centre that livelihoods are at stake. The three MPs from the state, including me, Shripad Naik and Narendra Sawaikar are meeting Amit Shah.” While ministers and MLAs have met Union ministers on the matter earlier, this visit by Tendulkar and the others is “strategic” as the delegation has been called by Amit Shah, said BJP sources.

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