Goa Mining People's Front seeks govt intervention for resumption of mining activities in state

The Goa Mining People's Front (GMPF), representing lakhs of people employed in the mining industry in the state, on Friday said it has sought the government's intervention for enabling lasting solution for the resumption of mining activities in the state.

"GMPF...on completion of two unfortunate years of the apex court's judgment which resulted in stoppage of the Goa mining industry, has appealed to the judiciary, the state government and the Government of India for their urgent intervention for enabling lasting solution for the resumption of mining activities in the state," it said in a statement.

All the mining activities in Goa abruptly came to standstill in 2018, hitting over three lakh Goan livelihoods resulting in grave job loss and severe and critical unemployment in the state, it said.

"It has been two years since the mining has been closed down the second time after the first closure in 2012. The economic condition of the people is bad apart from the falling government revenue, slowing down the general development process... People's patience is running out due to their economic conditions," GMPF President Puti Gaonkar said.

He added that the government has to ensure that mining restarts and employment generation gets back to normal.