PANAJI
The Supreme Court appointed Central Empowered Committee (CEC) has recommended changes to the Goa Mineral Ore Permanent Fund Trust Scheme (GMOPFTS) that, if approved by the Supreme Court, could pave the way for its implementation in the State.
According to the amendments, the income/interest now earned from the fund will be transferred to the State budget annually for implementation of welfare schemes for the entire Goan population.
More than Rs 472 crore of funds was being held up in the Permanent Fund, over disagreements over how it should be invested, and once invested, how the income should be utilised.
The decision follows a series of meetings the CEC brokered between the Directorate of Mines and Geology and the Goa Foundation, the petitioner in the case before the Supreme Court -- where differences over how the scheme should be implemented were thrashed out.
The Goa government had suggested that the proceeds of the fund should be used, among other things for restoring the ecology damaged by mining or other activity, including tree plantation in the mining affected talukas, installation of permanent air quality monitoring stations on the routes of transportation of minerals and the loading points at the jetties, providing alternate employment and economic opportunities to the needy people, compensating families impacted by mining directly through a scheme approved by the Government providing compensation due to the loss of life or property due to attacks by wildlife or natural disasters, afforestation and soil conservation measures in the mining impact zone, groundwater recharge, etc.
However, the Goa Foundation expressed its objection to the above objectives saying that such a clause would restrict the beneficiaries of the Permanent Fund Scheme to the mining affected areas.
According to Goa Foundation sufficient funds are being generated through District Mineral Fund (DMF) and funds are exclusively used for people affected by mining and residing in towns and villages near mining activities.
“While 16% of the total population of Goa are beneficiaries of DMF, 84% of the people in Goa State are not entitled for any benefits from the DMF. Therefore the real income generated from the GMOPFTS should be utilised for the benefit and welfare of the 84% of the population of Goa as they are not entitled to any benefits from the DMF even though they are equal stakeholders of the natural resource. The damages to the ecology caused by mining activities has to be restored following the ‘Polluter Pays’ Principle and the monies from the GMOPFTS should not be utilised for eco-restoration work,” the Goa Foundation argued.
The Goa Foundation instead argued that the interest/income earned by the fund should be distributed directly as dividend to the accounts of the permanent residents of Goa and did not favour implementation of welfare schemes.
“After detailed discussion, it was suggested in the meeting, as is being done in Norway, the Trustees (of the fund) after considering the income generated by the Fund annually will make their recommendation regarding the quantum to be transferred from the corpus fund to the State Budget so that the said money can be utilised for implementation of the welfare schemes of the entire Goan population,” the CEC said in its report.
In its report to the Supreme Court, the CEC has submitted two amendments to the scheme -- “the executive committee after obtaining advice of experts in the field of finance and investments, will recommend to the governing council with regard to investment of a permanent fund to achieve maximum long-term real returns with minimal cost and the fund will not be invested in risky assets,” and the insertion of a new clause to ensure that “only the interest/income generated from the investments made from the fund after approval of the governing body will be transferred to the State Budget annually for implementation of welfare schemes of the entire Goan population.”
