Panaji, June 28 (Herald): There was a routine news photo that was uploaded from Delhi and would have normally passed off as just another photograph. Mr Manohar Parrikar the Defence Minister, Mr Laxmikant Parsekar the Chief Minister and Union minister for Steel and Mines Narendra Singh Tomar at a meeting on Friday. It was a warm picture with all three smiling. All was well with the world and the good God was in heaven. Or so it seemed.

So what was Mr Parrikar doing with Mr Parsekar? Or a more valid question is does the Chief Minister of Goa need to hold the hand of the big brother Defence Minister to even meet an Union minister on a critical issue of restarting mining in Goa. And why does the Goa CM need to actually waste his own time, of the Defence Minister and the Mines Minister of the country?
Mr Parsekar needs to be in Goa to get things moving. The ball is in his court. His frequent trips to Delhi to give the impression that the key to start mining lies with the centre, are not necessary. He has over ten million tonnes of iron ore (which includes the non auctioned plus auctioned but not transported) ore to clear. Unless the ground is cleared, there will be no space for mining, dumping and placing in the jetties.

Secondly, the issue of dumping inside mining leases needed to be cleared. But the centre will move on this issue only when they see serious intent on the part of the government to carry out the e-auction of ore to move the remaining material out of Goa.

According to the minutes of the Coordination Cum Empowered Committee (CCEC) meeting held on June 05, 2015 in the ministry of Mines, Delhi, Union Secretary (Mines) emphasized the urgency of initiating the auction processes by the State Governments. Thus Goa’s Chief Minister needed to look at this before rushing back to Delhi.

Understandably there are several issues that need the attention of the centre. For instance, at the CCEC meeting, the representative of Goa raised the provision of area for dumping in the existing mining leases and asked for the provision of legislative framework for resolution of this problem. Union Joint Secretary (Mines), Shri Arun Kumar elaborated the problem with regard to this requirement of dumps being non-contiguous and being non-mineralised. There was detailed discussion in the matter and it was requested that some solution needs to be found.

This needs a secretary to secretary level communication at least on a weekly basis. Goa does not even have a regular Mines secretary after Mr Pawan Sain was transferred to Delhi.

Meanwhile, even as Mr Parsekar is trying to push the restart of mining, the spirit of the entire movement against mining, which was to find ways to take control from the hands of the powerful few and place it in the hands of the state or cooperatives has to be recognised. Of course it’s not easy to wish away their presence but they should function in a system where the State has control over its resources and the professional mining contractors (which is what the mining companies are) be allowed to function within that system.

Another area that has been ignored is the development and exploitation of smaller and other minerals which is in the same eco system of iron ore. While several representations have been made by a select group of key people with knowledge about this, the State government has shown abject apathy towards realising that the value of the present ore rejects and even fresh ore can be enhanced if we manage to extract the other minerals.

Mr Parsekar needs to cut back on various other small time priorities and give undivided attention to this sector, or else the conflict between industry, government and people will continue.

Mr Parsekar should also take note of the Union Mines secretary’s observations at the CCEC meeting. “He (the mines secretary) mentioned that the State Governments should not see mining sector only from point view of revenue generation, rather States should approach the sector for its coordinated development and mineral conservation. Union Secretary (Mines) urged the representatives of State Governments to adopt a punctual and professional approach and ensure value addition in everything they plan to do.” The concept of looking at other and minor minerals is exactly the way forward.

It is unfortunate that the Goa CM seems to be completely out of depth of understanding the contemporary and new age signals coming from the centre. He needs to think for himself and get professional help.