Goa doesn’t need special status: CM

Panaji: Chief Minister Pramod Sawant on Tuesday said that Goa does not require special status as the central government has been giving all the required funds for development and welfare schemes.

He however, put the onus on Goans for protecting Goan identity, saying   that people should take precautions while selling land to outsiders.

Addressing a press conference here on Tuesday to applaud the Centre for revoking Article 35A and Article 370 of the Indian Constitution that had conferred special status to Jammu and Kashmir, Sawant said, “After the revocation of Article 370, I don’t think Goa will need any special status as the Centre has given us funds for developmental works. Let anybody show me a single project which is pending due to central funds.”

“I don’t think Goans would demand any special status,” the Chief Minister reckoned.

The Modi government has given almost everything that Goa sought.   Special status is demanded for get ting special grants and preferential treatment vis-a-vis central funds for development projects, he explained. 

“We have received all the grants for development in the last seven years.  As far as the protection of land is concerned, I must say that it is for the individuals to take precaution while selling their land to outsiders…,” he said.

Sawant said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has fulfilled a long-cherished dream of the BJP.

The state of Jammu and Kashmir has been divided into two Union territories – Jammu and Kashmir is one UT with a legislative assembly, while Ladakh is the second UT without legislature.

The move will bring an end to terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir, he maintained.

The Chief Minister said that Shyama Prasad Mukherjee, who founded the Bharatiya Jana Sangh that later became the BJP, was against Article 370 and had expressed his displeasure at the special status to  Jammu and Kashmir.

Mukherjee had led a movement along with Atal Bihari Vajpayee for complete integration of Jammu and Kashmir into the Indian Union, Sawant recalled.