the goan I network
PANAJI
Former Chief Minister and Digambar Kamat promised to solve the mining issue if the Congress government comes to power, even though he stopped short of telling what his plans are.
Responding to questions at a rare press conference in Panaji, Kamat took the battle to the current ruling dispensation blaming them for the ills of the mining sector.
“I have the capacity to tackle the issue. Prior to this, I have solved big problems… the SEZ problem I have solved… I became the Chief Minister and I solved the SEZ issue, I solved it the way people wanted. I am the only chief minister in the entire country who had the guts to scrap the SEZ policy and the SEZs in the state of Goa. No other chief minister had the guts to do this,” Kamat said.
“It didn’t start during my tenure. During my tenure mining did not come to a halt. My government did not halt mining. On the contrary (during my tenure) the common man got money in their hands. Go and ask in the mining belt,” a combative Kamat told reporters when asked about the mining ban.
When asked about the illegalities during his tenure that were now coming to haunt the state of Goa, Kamat said, “If there were illegalities, it needs to be proved. Latest judgement (of the Supreme Court) is available, read it! The Supreme Court has two judgements on mining. The first one is of (Justice A K) Patnaik. In there, if there is even one stricture against Digambar Kamat you tell me. Read it! Tell me if there is even one stricture against my government or against me, you tell me,” Kamat said.
“Then read the recent judgement of the Justice Madan Lokur bench. Read what they have said about the government (previous BJP government). You will then know who needs to be painted black,” Kamat said.
Asked about his solution, Kamat refused to divulge anything. “I will give the solution when the time comes. There is a time for it. When our government comes into power tomorrow we will reveal our solution.”
Govt failed to protect consumers before JERC: Congress
PANAJI: Former power minister Digambar Kamat chided the state government for failing to protect the interest of the consumers before the Joint Electricity Regulatory Commission saying that the recent hikes in power tariffs were not thought through.
“Throughout my tenure of eight years, the policy of the state government was to give protection to the consumers. That means you have to subsidize the rate to the consumers and try to get maximum money from the industrial sector and the commercial sector. This was the broad policy of the government,” Kamat said.
“I’m sure the department has failed to protect the interest of the common consumer before the JERC,” Kamat said adding that he spoke to power minister Pandurang Madkaikar asking him to reduce the tariffs.
“If you compare the domestic rates and the commercial rates, the last slab of the domestic rate goes into the commercial rate. Persons with more than 400 units will have to shell out 5.10 per unit. In the commercial tariff, the lowest slab is 5.15. That means the domestic consumer is touching the commercial. This has never happened. There always used to be a gap,” Kamat added.
Goa Pradesh Congress Committee president Shantaram Naik demanded that the Goa government subsidize the power tariff under section 65 of the Electricity Act to give “relief to the people.”
Naik said that the government didn’t take into account the financial state of the people of Goa and especially the mining ban while proposing the rates to the JERC.
