Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar has said that mining companies should be able to ‘support’ their employees during this time of crisis especially since they have been earning from the sector over the last 20 years.
Speaking on the floor of the Goa Assembly and responding to a question on the fate of the 40,000-odd workers who have been rendered jobless by the shutdown in the sector, the CM said, “The mining companies should be supporting them. They (companies) have earned from mining for over 20 years. I don’t see why they cannot sustain their workers for at least two years. And the ban has been on only for six months,” Parrikar said.
There is fear in the mining sector that the companies will begin laying off workers. Many workers are without work though they have retained their jobs, but fear that the situation may not continue the same way.
Mining in Goa has been banned by the Supreme Court since October last year bringing all activity including transportation of already mined ore, to a halt.
The ban was imposed by the Supreme Court on the basis of a petition filed a environmental NGO, the Goa foundation represented by senior advocate in the Supreme Court Prashant Bhushan.