MARGAO: Power minister Nilesh Cabral on Thursday voiced his staunch objection to any move by the government to auction the 88 mining leases quashed by the Supreme Court. He urged the state government to explore the option of running those mines on its own, through appropriate avenues such as forming a corporation. Cabral, however, stressed that he was “hoping against hope” that some solution to the crisis would emerge before the election code of conduct kicks in.The minister, who represents the Curchorem constituency, told TOI that the Centre has, so far, not conveyed to the state government that it would not come out with a solution.“I will not allow my government to auction the 88 mining leases as well as the 22 more leases that have been illegally stopped. If it cannot renew the leases of the current people, because it is a little complicated, the government will have to run the mines itself by employing everybody...Permanent employees should be taken back,” Cabral told TOI.He, however, stressed that the Centre should “come out with a formula in such a way that these 110 leases will continue until 2037”. “We have 543 leases. The remaining 433 leases you auction, I have no problem. But if they say ‘You auction everything’, I will shout against my own government,” he said.Justifying why the auction route was not the answer to the mining imbroglio in Goa, Cabral said 152 mines had been auctioned since 2015, but only two were in operation.He suggested that the government run the operations and employ bright professionals to manage the mines. “There are many highly educated professionals who work as consultants in Australia, Brazil and elsewhere (in the mining sector). We can bring the top brains here,” he said, adding that he has been sharing these views with the government for the past 5-6 months.When asked why the Centre was unable to find a solution to the issue a year on, the power minister said it could be due to the involvement of several ministries such as mines, law, and others. Also, may be if Goa was a big state, a decision might have been made,” he said.

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