The ruling BJP in Goa has made a demand of Rs 300 crore for mining-dependent people before the 15th Finance Commission as their livelihood was affected following a Supreme Court ban on iron ore extraction.
Besides the BJP, opposition parties also sought financial assistance for the mining dependents during the panel's meetings in the state.
Iron ore mining in the state came to a standstill after the Supreme Court quashed 88 mining leases in February 2018.
The 15th Finance Commission, led by N K Singh, has started holding a series of meetings in Goa from Thursday.
In their representations to the commission, the BJP, the Congress and the Goa Forward Party (GFP) have sought a financial package for the people affected by the closure of the mining industry, a key source of goverment revenue.
Goa BJP president Sadanand Tanavade demanded Rs 300 crore for mining-dependents.
"At the time it was banned, mining was Goa's largest industry. This decision had an enormous socio-economic impact. The economy of Goan state was dependent on mining. More than 60,000 people were employed directly," the BJP representation states.
The mining sector, which contributed heavily to the total non-tax revenue of the state in 2010-11, now accounts for a negligible share in it, Tanavade said, adding the closure of mining activities contributed to large-scale unemployment.
"It is proposed that Rs 300 crore may be sanctioned for the state towards the implementation of activities for the welfare of the affected people till mining operations are resumed in the state," he added.
The Congress requested the commission to consider aspects such as closure of mining and slowdown of tourism while allotting funds to the state government.
"With recession in tourism and closure of mines, Goa is facing an unprecedented economic and social crisis at present," Goa Congress chief Girish Chodankar said.
The commission must understand that the allocation for 2020-25 period needs to be absolutely realistic as Goa is staring at an uncertain future despite generously contributing to the Centre's revenue in the past 58 years, he said.
"The formula of allocating grants had never favoured Goa. The Commission therefore needs to carefully look at limited resources of the state, record unemployment, collapse of agriculture and fisheries and rising public debt among other burning issues," he added.
The GFP has demanded Rs 6,000 crore as a compensation for mining-dependents.
GFP president Vijai Sardesai said the BJP government's demand of Rs 300 crore is "peanuts".
"We should ask for more as the money which we are asking is actually from the royalty that we have paid to the Centre," he claimed.
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