ORDINANCE? NO!
* On ordinance to help ensure continuity of leases, Sudin said no such thing would be done* At this time doing these things (ordinance route) would not be correct, said the minister
* It now depends on PMO and Mines Minister’s Office and how Governor writes to them, he said
* According to him, at this stage nothing will done until the central govt takes a decision
* The minister said that the primary concern was of immediate future of those in the mining belt
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PANAJI: A delegation of ministers and MLAs called on Governor Mridula Sinha to apprise her about the impending adverse impacts of the mining shutdown in Goa as well as to request her to take up the matter with the Central Government.
Emerging from the meeting, PWD Minister Ramkrishna “Sudin” Dhavalikar who had led the all-party delegation to Delhi said that the State government will be taking no further action unless the central government first takes a decision in the matter.
“Today we all met the Governor and we told the Governor what are Goa’s social problems and discussed with her. Besides that we requested her to take this issue with the Prime Minister’s Office and Mining Minister’s Office in Delhi,” Dhavalikar said.
When asked whether the government would resort to an ordinance to help ensure continuity of the leases, Dhavalikar said no such thing would be done.
“At this time doing these things (ordinance route) would not be correct. The Supreme Court’s decision is clear and on this issue. It now depends on what the Prime Minister’s Office and Mines Minister’s Office says and how the Governor writes to them. All depends on that. At this stage we will not do anything until the Mining Minister’s office and the Prime Minister's Office take a decision,” Dhavalikar added.
He said that the primary concern was of the immediate future of those in the mining belt.
“We are here to discuss the problems that will happen when the mines close. Even if we auction, the mines will be closed for at least one year. The problems that will be created was discussed. We have submitted a memorandum regarding the issues which is likely to hit Goa,” Dhavalikar said.
Earlier Curchorem MLA Nilesh Cabral said that the party MLAs would exhaust all options including petitioning the Governor of Goa, as well as re-attempting to meet Union Ministers Arun Jaitley, Ravi Shankar Prasad and Narendra Singh Tomar in a bid to provide at least some interim relief to those affected by the mining shutdown.
