PORVORIM: Chief Minister Pramod Sawant on Wednesday said that a committee with artistes as its members will be constituted to make suggestions and carry out a review of the repair works of Kala Academy. Speaking during the discussion on demands for Police, Public Works Department (PWD), Home, Home Guards, and Civil Defence, he said Kala Academy will be maintained by the same contractor for the next five years.
Moving on to matters related to the Home Department, Sawant claimed that there was a decrease in crime rates by 22.83 per cent in the year 2022-23, while the detection rate went up to 90 per cent during the same period.
The Chief Minister said, “We do not tolerate drugs and will not tolerate them in the future as well. Police will strictly monitor and crack down on peddlers. There is a need to create awareness among children about drugs.”
Sawant also said that police inspectors of the Anti-Narcotics Cell (ANC) will meet the MLAs who have mentioned drugs in schools in person to take further action.
He said jail regulations have been reinforced and now mobile jammers will be installed in the jails. He added that the Director General of Police (DGP) had written to his Telangana counterpart on the issue of a drug trail leading to Goa, but there was no response from the Telangana police on that.
“When the DGP had spoken to Telangana Police over the phone asking them to provide proof, the Telangana police said they did not have any proof nor did they communicate later,” the Chief Minister said.
Sawant said 49 people have been arrested in connection with land grabbing cases, and 48 cases have been registered against them, while 93 unclaimed properties have been brought under the control of the government.
He mentioned that during tenant verification, 32 Bangladeshi nationals were detained and 61 Kashmiris verified. The Chief Minister said all potholes in the State will be repaired in a time-bound manner, but the repair work will start once the rain stops.
He also stated that the Junta House Building will be demolished and reconstructed. The reconstruction work will start once the occupants of the shops move out.