Govt set to bring unaccounted iron ore dumps into official inventory

Chief Minister Pramod Sawant briefs the media on Cabinet decisions at Mantralaya, Porvorim.

PANAJI
The Goa cabinet on Friday cleared a decision to include uninventorised iron ore dumps into the State’s official inventory lying outside the erstwhile lease areas.
The decision was announced by Chief Minister Pramod Sawant at a press briefing after the cabinet meeting, where he said the decision permits former mining leaseholders to include mineral ore dumped and stored outside their lease areas, provided that conversion fees under the Land Revenue Code and royalty payments have been duly made.
Fines, as applicable, will also have to be paid, Sawant said, adding that the decision was taken as part of the government’s earlier-notified Dump Policy.
He, however, did not say whether the government will take charge of the so-inventorised ore dumps and sell them through e-auctions, adding that such a decision can be taken once the inventory of these ore dumps takes place.
The Chief Minister also did not provide any estimate of the quantum of such inventorised iron ore that would enter the State's inventory following the implementation of the decision.
Meanwhile, in other decisions cleared at Friday's cabinet meeting, key proposals for filling senior positions — albeit on a contract basis — for the GMC and other government departments were approved, Sawant said.
Among the positions cleared were the contract-basis appointment of pharmacists under the Employee State Insurance (ESI) Scheme, recruitment of physiotherapists for the upcoming 100-bedded ESI Hospital at Margao, one post of Lecturer in the Department of Radiation Oncology at GMC on a contract basis, as well as permission to fill four posts in the GMC's Blood Bank.
The cabinet also approved a proposal to repair and renovate the veterinary hospital at Curti-Ponda, which will then be part of the Government Veterinary College, slated to begin academic functioning from next year.
Sawant said the cabinet also approved a few minor amendments to the recruitment rules for processes conducted by the Goa Public Service Commission (GPSC).