PANAJI: Delivering a stern warning to government departments, chief minister Pramod Sawant on Saturday said that henceforth, government officers would be held accountable if any further encroachments are noticed in government land. While justifying the government’s decision to pursue the public-private partnership route while undertaking mega projects, Sawant also said that the government’s interests would be protected.
“My office has given instructions: if any government land is encroached upon by someone, the concerned department’s executive engineer or officer will be held responsible,” said Sawant, making the concluding remarks during the discussion on the motion of thanks to the governor’s speech.
The opposition had slammed the government for doing little to protect government land and for proposing to regularise illegal structures in government and comunidade land. The opposition had also raised an alarm over the government’s move to take up big-ticket projects such as the new airport at Mopa, the bus stands at Panaji, Margao and Mapusa and other projects through the PPP route.
Sawant said that given the lack of funds and the need to create flagship projects, the PPP route is best suited for Goa.
“Until we bring in PPP projects, we cannot have fast-paced development in the state. The government’s interests will be protected. The land will not be misused and we will not allow government land to be mortgaged,” said Sawant.
Sawant also attempted to assuage concerns raised by minority-backed educational institutions regarding the New Education Policy. “The new education policy has come in after 45 years, and we are not here to do any injustice to anybody out of haste. There will be no differences between majority and minority, and nobody needs to be afraid of it,” said Sawant.
Sawant also said that the Goa government is keen to make Goa self-sustainable through the Swayampurna Goa initiative. He said that aside from providing access to state and central schemes, the initiative also aims to encourage integrated farming in the state.
“In my opinion, a farmer or agriculturists needs to make a profit of Rs 3 lakh per year, only then will people look at it as a good option, and for this, integrated farming is required. We will give all support to the farmers through Swayampurana Goa to encourage integrated farming,” said Sawant.