Leader of the Opposition in the Goa Assembly Pratapsingh Rane today demanded on the floor of the House that the money collected from mining workers in the form of a cess should be ploughed back in the State.
Almost Rs 1 crore has been collected in the form of cess from workers in the mining industry, Rane told the Legislative Assembly today.
“This money goes to the Central Government fund, when actually it should be utilised in Goa,” he said.
The cess collected goes in the kitty of the Indian Mines Bureau (IBM) located at Nagpur. “This money should have been used in Goa on facilities such as housing and health for the mining workers,” the former Chief Minister demanded.
“The mining workers rightfully own that money,” he said.
Rane raised the issue while discussing health facilities in the mining belt of Sankhalim and Valpoi.
He had asked State Health Minister Laxmikant Parsekar as to when the hospitals at Sanquelim and Valpoi would be ready.
Parsekar said “no such time frame can be given in respect of the Valpoi hospital” while the construction of the hospital at Sanquelim was completed in all respects and was inaugurated on January 23 this year.