KAMAT SAYS THE THRUST OF HIS GOVT WOULD BE TO REDUCE DAMAGE TO ENVIRONMENT FROM MINING DUST

PANJIM: The Chief Minister, Mr Digambar Kamat on Thursday told the members of the Goa legislative assembly that the thrust of his government would be to reduce damage to the environment caused due to mining activities in Goa, even as he called for a consensus on the issue of mining in the interest of the state.

Responding to the issues raised by the members of the House during discussion on demands for departments of mines, commercial tax, excise, art and culture, finance, information technology, etc, Mr Kamat told the state assembly that he has already announced various measures to control the ill-effects of mining in his budget speech.

The Chief Minister further said that the government has already imposed ban on mining activity till a new policy is framed and notified. He also said that all the concerned departments including the Goa State Pollution Control Board have been directed not to issue any clearances (air and water) to any applicant.

He also said that new rules of MMRD Act as applicable to all the states makes it compulsory for all trucks used for transportation of mineral to be registered with the department of mines and geology and would be issued special passes making it easy to identify those trucks transporting ore without registration. He said strict action would be taken against those plying trucks illegally.

The Chief Minister also announced additional benefits/concessions to the milk producers, hotel industry and others that were not reflected in his budget speech. A subsidy of Rs 2.50 per litre would be given up to 100 litres of production per day. Further, to provide the incentive directly to the farmers, Electronic Clearing System would be put in place and the amount would be deposited directly in their bank accounts.

He said that these steps were taken following representation from various quarters and with the new incentives he expected the Goa Milk Producers Union would reduce the milk prices and make it better remunerative to the producers as well as transfer the benefit to the consumers. He also announced enhancement of subsidy from 30 per cent to 75 per cent to farmers for procurement of milking equipment. He also hiked library cess on liquor by 25 paise.

Stating that the revenue collection of the commercial tax and excise department was expected to reach Rs 1,680 crore and Rs 140 crore, respectively (up by 20 per cent and 35 per cent over the last year’s collections), Mr Kamat said that the additional revenue would be utilised for implementation of various schemes announced by him.

He also said that inter-state check-posts would be set up at various entry points in the state and all of them would be connected to the head office through Goa Broadband Network. He went on to add that e-governance has been launched by the commercial tax department, benefiting the common man.

Mr Kamat admitted that there might have been some falsification in the excise department and that recommendations made in the enquiry report following allegations of wrongdoings were being implemented to check misuse, adding that other states were now co-operating with Goa in checking of permits, etc. He also said that bars would not be allowed to operate in residential areas after specified time limit.

Announcing that a task force has been constituted for checking misuse of industrial plots and also for allotment of smaller plots made by the Goa Industrial Development Corporation, he went on to add that smaller plots would be allotted to Goans and some of which would be reserved for entrepreneurs belonging to SC/ST communities and women. The Chief Minister also stated various measures taken by his government in promotion of industries and further said that a vision document would be promoted for promotion of food processing industry in Goa.

Dealing on the issue of art and culture, Mr Kamat said that the department had performed particularly well, even as he said that D D Kossambe Festival of Ideas has taken Goa to greater heights and that the festival would henceforth be rotated in all the talukas.

The Chief Minister also announced rationalisation in the luxury tax rates on room rents in hotels. Hotels charging up to Rs 300 per room would be exempt from luxury tax, while for room charges exceeding Rs 300 but below Rs 2,000, the luxury tax would be 5 per cent. For hotels where room charges are Rs 2,001 and Rs 5,000 the tax would be 8 per cent and for hotel room charges above Rs 5,000 the rate would be 10 per cent.

Mr Kamat also announced that he has also proposed to increase the nursing allowance from Rs 1,600 to Rs 3,200 per month and washing allowance from Rs 150 to Rs 300 per month to be made effective from April 1, 2011. Nearly 1,755 nursing staff in government hospitals and 43 nurses in ESI hospitals will be benefited.

Earlier, the leader of opposition demanded that the government should put a cap on ore extraction in each mining area and also its transportation and promised his party’s full support to the government in joint action plan to regulate mining and containing illegal/excess mining. He also demanded stoppage of registration of trucks used for mineral ore transportation.

He said that the government should use the funds earmarked for affected mining areas, even as he said that damage could not be totally repaired. He also pointed out that people in mining areas were fighting for survival, even as he said that pollution and accidents were routinely killing people.

Other members of the House also raised various issues connected with mining and sought immediate action from the government on the issue. They also raised various other issues relating to excise, commercial tax, art and culture, information technology, etc. Those who participated in the discussion on demands included Messrs Francis D’Souza, Dayanand Narvekar, Ramesh Tawadkar, Shyam Satardekar, Laxmikant Parsekar, Victoria Fernandes, Dayanand Sopte, Pratap Gawas, Rajesh Patnekar, Aleixo Reginaldo Lourenco, Pandurang Dhavalikar, Vasudev Gaonkar, Chandrakant Kavlekar and Mauvin Godinho.