Under fire, Churchill assures work in BJP constituencies
BY A GT REPORTER
PANJIM: The alleged step motherly treatment meted out to constituencies represented by the opposition while planning, sanctioning and executing development works saw the opposition BJP benches rise in unison against PWD Minister Churchill Alemao in the House yesterday.
BJP MLAs -- Mayem MLA Anant Shet, Mandrem MLA Laxmikant Parsekar, Canacona MLA Vijay Pai Khot, Poinguinim MLA Ramesh Tawadkar, Shiroda MLA Mahadev Naik -- charged the government of not according financial approval for works in their constituencies.
Parsekar charged the government with holding back 12 files which had been sent for sanction. "No roads have been constructed in Mandrem for two years," said Parsekar.
Mayem MLA Anant Shet was very specific on his Starred Question. Shet wanted to know the number of works tendered and work orders issued.
Ministry for Tribal Welfare soon: CM
PANJIM: The reduction of funds for tribal welfare prompted the opposition BJP benches to put the Social Welfare Minister Sudin Dhavlikar on the mat. It was only after Chief Minister Digambar Kamat came to the rescue of his colleague and promised a Ministry of Tribal Welfare that the BJP relented.
Opposition leader Manohar Parrikar was peeved over the gradual reduction of funds for Tribal Welfare as a percentage of the budget envisaged under the Tribal Sub Plan. Dhavlikar contended that some departments failed to prepare the relevant estimates, he pinned the blame on Finance Department. "The outlay reduced from 7% to 5% of the budgetary provision is done by the Finance Department," he said.
At this stage, Parrikar quickly pointed out that the percentage must be 12% as per the norms.
Govt mulling law to prosecute owners not reporting tenants
PANJIM: The government is examining the pros and cons of enacting a suitable legislation to empower the police to prosecute those owners who do not furnish information about migrants residing in their residences. However, any law enacted in this regard will be in tandem with the provisions of the Constitution of India.
This assurance by Home Minister Ravi Naik came against the backdrop of a Calling Attention Motion moved by Curtorim MLA Aleixo Reginaldo.
Lourenco demanded more measures such as taking finger prints of migrants. Naik put the rough estimates of migrants in Goa at 4 to 5 lakhs.
"It will, however, be unfair to assume that only migrants are indulging in crimes. Any law aimed against migrants would be discriminatory in nature and violative of the Constitution.
Illegal conversion of agri land echoes in House
PANJIM: Revenue Minister Jose Philip D'Souza admitted that the law pertaining to illegal conversion of agriculture land needs to be changed in the rapidly changing scenario. Priol MLA Pandurang Dhavlikar,Cumbharjua MLA Pandurang Madkaikar and former Finance Minister Dayanand Narvekar who described the situation at ground level as alarming.
Earlier, Dhavlikar raised the matter through a Calling Attention Motion when he pointed out to the illegal conversion of agricultural land in the state and the non-implementation of the acts/rules in this regard.
While former Finance Minister Dayanand Narvekar referred to encroachment in comunidade property, he wanted these structures to be regularised.
This, Narvekar argued, was due to the existence of these structures for many years. Madkaikar opposed the regularisation of structures on agricultural land while Deputy Speaker Mauvin Godinho was for setting a revised cut-off date for regularising these structures.
In his reply, the Revenue Minister said it was high time to amend the law. Delving into history, he informed that in the year 2002, an amendment was made for regularisation of structures on comunidade land where the cut-off date was pegged at June 2000. "One comunidade went to court and the entire procedure was paralysed," said Jose Philip.
He put the number of such cases of illegal construction on comunidade land at 2515 -- with 2127 in the North and 418 in the South. The options before the government, Jose Philip claimed, were regularisation or demolition. He felt the need for amending the law for enabling the filing of an FIR, registering the encroachment as cognisable offence and seizure of material.
