Show IIT land that is being farmed: Phal Dessai to farmers

Panaji: Social welfare minister and Sanguem MLA Subhash Phal Dessai on Thursday challenged farmers opposing the permanent IIT-Goa campus in his constituency to take mediapersons to the site and indicate which part of the 7.5 lakh sqm of land demarcated for the project is being cultivated. The minister asserted that not a single section of the identified land is being used for agriculture even as he accused the farmers of attempting to garner support from other parts of the state by approaching the media.
He also slammed the protesters for insisting that the land in question belonged to the Portuguese and that in taking it over, the state government had usurped the rights of the property’s rightful heirs. “If they (the protesters) claim that this concept of land ownership is true, they should go to court to prove that they are the rightful heirs to the land and that ownership should devolve to them,” Phal Dessai said.
Chief minister Pramod Sawant had on Wednesday said that the government was willing to compensate any person with any land right documents for a property located within the land identified for the IIT project.
Phal Dessai said at least 30,000sqm of the land demarcated for the IIT-Goa project has been encroached upon and reiterated that all claims would be settled. “Because of this 30,000sqm, we cannot give up 7.5 lakh sqm of land for the project. We have assured those affected that we will provide them with jobs and even with alternative land, which they have not been agreeing to.”
The minister further dismissed allegations that he stood to gain from the project.