PANAJI
Aam Aadmi Party Goa convener Rahul Mhambre said, “It’s now very clear that Chief Minister 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.”
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 auctions the leases then Goa or Goans will have no say absolutely and the leases will be given to BJP corporate 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 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,” 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 60 are in protected areas cannot be renewed but argued that the remaining 124 leases could have been auctioned which the Chief Minister 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 Mhambre.
‘Funds for p’yats, but no pension to beneficiaries from last 6 months’
PANAJI: Aam Aadmi Party on Saturday asked Chief Minister Pramod Sawant to come out of announcement mode to think of the aged and differently-abled people in Goa who have not been receiving any dole for more than six months.
AAP Prasad Shahapurkar pointed out that the senior citizens and disabled people from Goa have not received the dole they were receiving since August 2020 which is six months. He pointed out that the Chief Minister is offering packages to panchayats instead of catering to the needs of the needy people of Goa.
AAP leader Patricia Fernandes said, “Offering the incentive of Rs 50 lakh to panchayats is nothing but a political gimmick aimed at attracting votes for the assembly polls.”
