Mining resumes in North Goa, but where are the jobs? Cong says BJP ‘dangled a carrot’

At his house in Mulgao village in North Goa’s Bicholim taluka, Madan Kauthankar, a former electrician at a mine, is switching channels on the television. About a kilometre away, several trucks traverse a dusty road adjacent to a lake, leading to a newly operational mine atop a hillock.

Madan had lost his job after mining came to a halt in Goa following a 2018 Supreme Court order that quashed 88 mining leases following a petition challenging their legality. Now, a month into the resumption of operations at Vedanta Sesa Goa, one of the biggest iron-ore producers in India, he says nothing has changed for him.

“The gold (iron ore) is being mined from our village and exported to foreign countries, but we are not getting any jobs. Labourers are being hired on contract, and that too, from other states and constituencies,” says Madan.

Vedanta Sesa Goa announced in early April that it had commenced operations at the Bicholim Mineral Block, becoming the first auctioned mine to become operational since mining was halted six years ago. The Union Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change granted environmental clearance to the auction block of Vedanta Limited for a mine spread over 478.5 hectares across six villages in Bicholim taluka – Mulgao, Sirigao, Lamgao, Bordem, Bicholim and Mayem.

There are nine auctioned blocks in the state, of which only Vedanta is functional.

Calling the reopening of the mines a “historic” move, Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant had said, “Due to the ban, Goa faced many hardships. With this, many stakeholders shall benefit, as well as the state.”

With the coastal state scheduled to vote for the Lok Sabha polls on May 7, many in Bicholim have pinned their hopes of employment flowing from the resumption of