Team Herald
MARGAO: Goa Forward Party (GFP) chief Vijai Sardesai on Sunday said his party in combination with an united opposition would expose the government during the Goa Legislative Assembly session starting on Monday.
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He alleged that the government that failed to mitigate the sufferings of Goans during the pandemic had actually put up Goa on a fast track sale and had to rollback many “rackets” due to public protests.
He outlined the “sell-out” over Mhadei, the consent for making Goa a coal hub by facilitating the three linear projects as examples of betrayal of Goans by the government.
Sardesai said, “The timely protest by the people forced the government to make a U-turn in the Old Goa merger into Greater Panaji PDA, go ahead to the cultivation of cannabis, the scrapping of IIT at Shel- Melauli and finally the Municipal Ordinance.”
He cautioned the people to be vigilant, failing which these obnoxious “money-making” rackets would be revived.
Sardesai said he would move his Private Members Bill to strengthen the institution of the Lokayukta, the ombudsman against corruption.
“The government’s attempts to dilute the office of the Lokayukta came as no surprise since the former Lokayukta had passed several orders against various “misdeeds” of the current government such as the Labour Gate scandal and beach dustbin scam in the Tourism Department which exposed the rampant corruption in the government under the leadership of the Chief Minister Dr Pramod Sawant”, he charged.
Vijai said, “My Private Members Bill intends to ensure that the report of the Lokayukta be binding on the government and that State functionaries will need to act within a stipulated period of one month which would help stop the rampant corruption by the BJP government.” The GFP has proposed a bill to provide 80% employment to locals in the private sector, he said.
Vijai assured that he would coordinate with his colleagues in the Opposition benches to expose the government over the National Education Policy, House Building Allowance (HBA), failure to beautify the historic Lohia Maidan as well as the scams in the international promotional events/roadshows as well as rampant land conversions in the State and ongoing destruction of ecology by sale of illegally subdivided agricultural plots in the State.
“The government’s apathy towards sugarcane farmers, freedom fighters, motorcycle pilots, local taxi owners, COVID warriors with an ineffective and slow vaccination drive as well as failure to provide stimulus packages to the poor during the pandemic would be jointly exposed by GFP in combination with our other opposition colleagues,” Vijai added.
