Mining firm in Goa seeks govt nod to lay off 350 permanent employees

A Goa-based mining company, Chowgule and Company Private Ltd, has sought permission from the Ministry of Labour and Employment to lay off 347 permanent employees in the state.

"Chowgule and Company Private Ltd has filed an application under the section 25 N of Industrial and Disputes Act 1947 in the Ministry of Labour and Employment for retrenchment of 347 permanent employees. It is among the top three mining companies in the state," the president of Goa Mining People's Front (GMPF), an umbrella organisation of the people dependent on mining, Puti Goankar, told PTI after the first hearing of the matter at the ministry here.

There will two more hearings tomorrow and day after, he said.

This is for the first time that a mining company in Goa has filed an application seeking permission from the government for laying off of permanent employees in the state where mining operations are stalled following a Supreme Court order.

Section 25 N of Industrial Disputes Act, 1947, deals with the pre-requisite conditions for retrenching workmen employed in an industrial establishment. The conditions include that a workman, who is in service for over an year, will have to be served with a three-month notice in writing before being terminated.

Goankar said he is hopeful that a decision will come in favour of the workers as he believes that "any decision in favour of the mining firm will just add salt to the wounds of the workers result of which will be other (mining) companies will file similar applications.

"In our response we have urged the ministry to take immediate steps to commence mining operations in Goa...this is necessary to save life of about lakhs of people."