Bill will be reintroduced, ‘Bhumiputra’ will be dropped: CM
Panaji: Following strong opposition and criticism, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant announced late Tuesday evening that the word ‘Bhumiputra’ will be omitted from the Goa Bhumiputra Adhikarini Bill, 2021 and the bill will be reintroduced in the next assembly session, to be held in two months, as the Goa Bhumi Adhikarini Bill.
In his address through virtual mode, the Chief Minister said the government will invite suggestions on the bill from August 4 on goaonline.gov.in. He said the suggestions will be considered before reintroducing the bill in the next session of the state legislative assembly.
“This bill has been brought to give ownership rights to those Goans who have their houses on government or comunidade lands. Those who have been paying electricity and water bills but do not have house number can file claim under this legislation. Persons residing in rented houses cannot take benefit of it,” he said.
The Chief Minister said there are 6.5 lakh electrified houses in Goa of which only 20 per cent houses have been built with construction licence and only 50 per cent families have their names on forms I & XIV. “Out of 6.5 lakh, around three lakh houses are not authorised and out of that, 50 per cent, which is approximately 1.5 lakh, occupants do not have their names on forms I & XIV,” he said.
Sawant also said 3,000 houses in village panchayat areas are facing demolition and a similar number of houses in municipal areas can be demolished any time, as the occupants do not have ownership of the houses. “This law will be only applicable to dwelling units having maximum 250 sq mt of area on government and comunidade lands. It is not for commercial purpose,” he said.
Sawant also stated that as per 1971 survey records, around 1.80 lakh houses are shown in the column of other rights of which around one lakh houses are on government and comunidade lands. “Out of 1,038 houses built in Khotodem village panchayat in Sattari, only 20 houses have construction licence and 1,028 are falling under other rights. In Canacona, 500 houses built on comunidade land face demolition,” he said.
Sawant said that a few people, who have read the bill are supporting it and those who have not gone through it are opposing it. “Considering the sentiments of the people, we have decided to seek suggestions from the public from August 4,” he said adding that the bill will be reintroduced as the Goa Bhumi Adhikarini Bill in the next session to be held in two months.
Meanwhile, earlier in the day, allocating 15 days to the Pramod Sawant government to come clear on the provisions of the Goa Bhumiputra Adhikarini Bill 2021, including its benefits, the number of houses to be covered under the bill, and the total encroached land to be regularised as per the legislation, the Congress party said it has received a negative feedback from public about the particular bill, as it would have an adverse impact on the Goan identity.
The Congress also proposed to take out a Bhumiputra Yatra in the constituency of Chief Minister Pramod Sawant, with the participation of 10,000 people, against the particular legislation.
Leader of the opposition, Digambar Kamat, addressing a press conference at the Congress House, along with Goa Pradesh Congress Committee president Girish Chodankar, said the government bulldozed large number of bills in the state legislative assembly, during the recent truncated monsoon session of the House, throwing democratic norms to dustbin.
Stating that the Goa Bhumiputra Adhikarini Bill 2021 is a stunt on the part of the government, created by keeping in mind the forthcoming state assembly election, the leader of the opposition stated that the opposition received the copies of these bills before dawn, when the House was still working, and these bills were supposed to be tabled later in the evening, on the same day. “This was absurd, as we had no time to go through the provisions and clauses of so many bills,” he added.
Speaking further, Kamat said that legislations like the Goa Panchayati Raj (Amendment) 2021, Goa Mineral Development Corporation Bill 2021, Goa Bhumiputra Adhikarini Bill 2021, and the Goa Investment Promotion and Facilitation of Single Window Clearance Bill, 2021 should have been referred to the Select Committee. “The select committee would have put them in the public domain and invited suggestions and objections from the people,” he added.
When asked if the Congress will approach the court of law over the Goa Bhumiputra Adhikarini Bill 2021, the leader of the opposition said the Governor has not given his assent to the bill and hence it has not become law, and therefore, no court can be approached against it. “We will try to convince the Governor not to give his assent to the bill,” he noted.
The GPCC president, speaking on the occasion, said the Bharatiya Janata Party has well packaged poison in the form of this bill, so as to destroy the state and its identity.
Congress spokesperson, Carlos Fereira, speaking on the occasion said the particular legislation will hurt the fundamental issues, which concern Goa and Goans. “We can’t deprive owners (of lands) of their rights by the stroke of a pen,” he stated, adding that “such legislation is unheard of anywhere in the country.”
The Congress also maintained that it is a habit of the BJP government to bring out such legislations whenever election is round the corner.