Goemkarponn Desk
Panaji:“It is now very clear that Goa chief minister Dr Pramod Sawant is only dancing to the tunes of his party bosses sitting in Delhi and willing to sell out Goa and Goans to the party leaders as can be seen over the delay in auctioning the mining leases,” said Aam Aadmi Party Goa convener Rahul Mhambre.
He pointed out that the inordinate delay by the Goa government to auction the mining leases that expired in March 2020, nearly a year ago, has now resulted in the likelihood of the Centre taking over the auctioning of these leases.
Rahul said that if the union government auction the leases then Goa or Goans will have no say absolutely and the leases will be given to BJP crony capitalist friends from Delhi who will rule the roost in the mining sector which was till today managed by Goans.
“This is yet another instance when Dr Pramod Sawant has sold Goa to his party bosses in Delhi as he had done earlier by selling River Mhadei to Karnataka or allowing the Major Port Act to be passed and even allowing Goa to be converted into a coal hub so that Adani can bring his coal from Australia to India through Goa,” he said.
He said it was indeed quite unfortunate that the BJP government in Goa is not even lifting a finger to protect Goa’s interest and is now manipulating to allow the centre to take over Goan mining leases which will result in further damage as the resumption of mining in Goa will not benefit Goa or Goans but only BJP’s capitalist friends.
He pointed out that in Goa 184 mining leases have expired of which as 60 are in protected areas cannot be renewed but argued that the remaining 124 leases could have been auctioned which Dr Pramod Sawant deliberately did not do so that the Centre could take over the mines.
“Let us see if the chief minister objects to the proposed amendment of the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act by 24th February to protect Goa’s interest or allow the deadline to pass just as he did not carry out the auction of the mining leases,” said Rahul.