In a scathing and voluminous counter response to the CEC onthe contentious issue of drawing a roadmap for the resumption of miningactivities, the Manohar Parrikar government has vehemently claimed its right todecide to regulate, monitor and restart mining.
The thrust of the 68 page letter, un-precedented, in itsbrutal clarity sent to the CEC by the Chief Secretary B Vijayan, was beyondillegal mining. It was about the state’s constitutional right to be the masterof its decisions as a servant of its people. The Goan has retrieved significantportions of the letter from sources in Delhi, who have accessed the Goagovernment’s letter. While it gives apoint by point and a detailed reply on its stated position in law on everypoint of irregularity of mining, raised by the CEC in its stormy meeting withgovernment officials and mining companies last week, it highlights that itsgovernment was on top of the situation, putting in place mechanisms even beforethe Shah Commission report or the CEC’s roadmap.
It is in the concluding pages that lies the government’simmediate response to the CEC and its immediate future submission in theSupreme Court. Clearly this has become a battle for his protection of aconstitutional mandate as opposed to the mere handling of the mining crisis.The report states in its conclusion “The State Government that had shown unparalleledresolve and commitment to combat the ills in its mining operation in a fair andtransparent manner .. and put in place a policy which is welfare centric andnot revenue centric, be left free to handle the matter and take a decisionabout when and how to resume mining in the best interest of the state and itspeople, which in any case is the democratic right and privilege of an electedgovernment, lest it casts doubts on the integrity, credibility, commitment andability to handle the affairs of the state independently.”
It goes on to state that the government must be allowed toresume mining on a case to case basis under the monitoring of the High PoweredCommittee (The Khandeparker Commission) to look into the irregularities pointedout in the PAC and the Shah Commission report.
While officials in the Directorate of Mining and Geology andmining department refused to speak on the contents of the letter, the CEC is inreceipt and sources say that top officials spent considerable time over itmid-week. The letter castigates the Digambar Kamat government and earlierCongress regimes and say that the PAC report of Manohar Parrikar was the firstand only comprehensive exercise which highlighted all illegalities. It hints atthe CEC having virtually hijacked the process of course correction withoutaccountability.
The letter states that the government will now submit itsresponse through filing a separate affidavit “to appraise the honourable ApexCourt of its intention and sincerity and assure them that the state governmentis committed and capable on its own”, to handle sustainable mining effectively.
There is also a lot that can be read between the lines. Itspatience with the CEC has clearly worn off as is evident from this. “(The stateof Goa will) urge the Honourable court to let the present state governmentdischarge its constitutional obligation without any interference by any otheragency... the state government is more than willing to submit its acts forscrutiny by any agency the Honourable court may decide to appoint ordesignate”, a clear sign that it doesn’t want to respond to the CEC any more.
