'Will resume mining in Goa', Kejriwal's poll promise

New Delhi, Jan 16 (IANS) Ahead of the Assembly elections in Goa, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday promised to initiate action to resume mining in the state while announcing the 13-point agenda for the state.

Highlighting the bleak future of the mining sector in the state, he said that the an important issue which came to light during his meetings with the youth in the past one and a half year is the resumption of mining. The AAP will commence full-scale mining in Goa, which could have been initiated much earlier if "people were not focused on fulfilling their selfish interests."

"They don't even want to start mining. Our intention is clear. If we are voted to power, within six months of formation of the government, we will resume mining in the state. Another important point is land ownership. There are many families who are denied their land ownership rights. I thoroughly examined this whole issue.

"There are big sharks here, who have grabbed huge pieces of land and do not want to leave them. But the AAP government will be honest and help those people who did not get rights on their land for decades, give rights to them within six months," he said.

During his meeting, the Chief Minister also promised every family a direct benefit of Rs 10 lakh for the next five years if his party is voted to power.

He also assured to provide free water, electricity, quality education, medical facilities, unemployment allowance of Rs 3,000 to every out of work person and Rs 1,000 to every woman in the state which, on an average, will save Rs 2 lakh per year for every family and Rs 10 lakh in five years.

Talking about building a corruption-free government, Kejriwal said: "Police and the CBI raided us, raided Manish Sisodia, arrested 21 MLAs and then set up a commission to get 400 of our files investigated, but did not find anything illegal. We are the most honest party in India and we will build a corruption-free and honest government in Goa."

He added: "People of Goa need to think which is more beneficial, accepting a bribe of Rs 2,000 from other parties before elections or benefiting Rs 10 lakh by voting for AAP."

According to Kejriwal, who is visiting Goa currently, the people of the state are very excited to witness real change in their region.

"Till now, the people of Goa had no option other than choosing between the BJP or the Congress. Now, both these parties function in a similar manner as many people have quit the Congress and joined BJP. They seem like one big family with similar ideologies now," he said.

"People are, therefore, fed up with these two parties and want change in their state at any cost. After Goa became independent, it has been ruled by the BJP for 15 years, MGP for 15 years and the Congress for 25 years. All these parties are responsible for this condition of the state. They are also responsible for the condition of the youth in Goa, the state of unemployment and so much corruption. That is why AAP is their only hope today," he added.

Kejriwal said that his party prepared the 13-point agenda after interacting with the people and the first big complaint that emerged in the state was unemployment.

He said: "The youth of Goa are very upset. I had a meeting with them. One of their complaints is that they are not getting employed. Everyone knows that jobs are less, but what is more upsetting is that those few open positions are offered to wrong people by taking bribes or through big recommendations. This is not fair. This is not how an egalitarian society functions."