PM has let down unemployed mining workers: CPI leader

A CPI leader Thursday accused Prime Minister Manmohan Singh of letting down thousands of workers affected by the mining ban in the state by not following up on his assurance that the central government would make a representation to the Supreme Court in the case.

Addressing a press conference here, Communist Party of India's (CPI) Christopher Fonseca, who has been working in tandem with mining company owners to create public pressure to seek revocation of the apex court ban on mining, said that during a recent meeting, the prime minister had assured that he would appoint the solicitor general to put forth a strong case before the apex court.

"The prime minister had promised our delegation from Goa that he will do 'everything possible' to make sure legal mining resumes in Goa. He had also promised that the solicitor general will be appointed to take up the case of ban on Goa mining, but nothing has happened," Fonseca said.

Fonseca who also heads the Goa People's Mining Front, has claimed that over a lakh people have been affected by the mining ban which includes laid-off mining company employees, truckers, and river barge owners.

"People are very nervous. It can create a kind of widespread psychological damage to the people in the state of Goa," he said, adding that Goa had very few substantial means of employment.

The GPMF, which also held protests in Jantar Mantar in New Delhi, had been lobbying with political leaders to seek resumption of mining, which was banned in October last year. The ban follows the unearthing of a Rs.35,000 crore illegal mining scam by a judicial commission.