ALBERTINA ALMEIDA
Now that there is an announcement from the Government, at the time this article is going to the press, that the Unity Mall will be relocated, it is time to take a little closer look at what these Unity Malls are all about. In the first place, the informa tion is not neatly available on one website. It has to be gleaned from different sources, primarily press notes issued by Press Infor mation Bureau and replies given to questions asked in Parliament. So much for transparency! From these sources, one gathers that the PM Ekta Mall (Unity Mall) was announced in the Un ion Budget 2023-24, for the promotion and sale of ODOP products (One District, One Product), Geographical Indication (GI) products, and other handicrafts from across the country. The Proposed Mall is required to have provision for dedicated space for each Union Ter ritory and State to display their ODOP products. In the fiscal year 2023-24, under Part- VI (Unity Mall) of the ‘Scheme for Special Assistance to States for Capital Investment 2023 24 (SASCI)’ of Department of Expenditure, Ministry of Finance, Rs 5000 crores was allocated for construc tion of PM Ekta Malls in all States. Information is dis persed across PIB releases, Ministry of Finance guide lines, and DPIIT commu nications. This fragmenta tion contributes to opacity, weakens public oversight, and is a convenient playing field for corruption. Goa is an apt case study of the confusion, where different departments and entities are involved in this project. Further, the declaration pertaining to not having the Unity Mall at Chimbel has not found its way into any formal Government notification in the Goa Government Gazette. Spatial planning is re quired to be done by the Town and Country Plan ning Department, in tan dem with the Panchayats and more importantly the gram sabhas of the vil lage, as also the Village Development Committees, but it can be seen that the entire planning process framework was thrown to the winds and gram sab ha resolutions were given a go-by, when it came to the Unity Mall at Chimbel. Surely someone should be held accountable for these irresponsible and corrupt actions which have driven the villagers to sacrifice their time and resources and fight for their village? If the Government main tains that they did not re quire to consult for loca tion of such mega projects, then they are in effect confirming what all these One X One Y projects are all about. Homogenising and deciding without the involvement of the peo ple what that one product should be, where it should be located and who will selectively get the bene fits. And in any event, why should it be one product? There is reference to marketing GI Tagged prod ucts in the Unity Mall. I am wondering, so the Taleigao brinjals which have just got the GI Tag are going to be marketed in the Unity Mall? Whatever happens to the autonomy of the cultiva tor-vendors who are man aging the sale of their prod ucts at local levels and have financial autonomy? Do we have such a large amount of produce that we need Unity Malls to market these products? What happens to the fact that the produce by small local producers of GI tagged products is likely to decrease, because the land is increasingly being high handedly taken out of their control, or the productivity of their land is affected by the development projects next door? What happens about Environment Impact As sessment when it comes to these projects? Or are they going to be based on this post-facto absurdity that has found its way into the environmental clearance legislation? Or is it going to be fragmented clearances sought like with the coal hub, so that the enormity of the environmental impact cannot be understood? Will the impact on wetlands and water bodies and hills and climate change at all figure in the assessment? As informed by Ana Gra cias at the meeting held at Chimbel on 4th January, 2026, from information that was obtained under the Right to Information Act, this project was a commer cial building, planned with seven floors, and having a Floor Area Ratio of 200, (when the Village FAR oth erwise is 60), where there would be only two floors and 40 stalls for craftsmen and others, and five floors would be for commercial purposes other than for craftsmen, and there would be a car museum and shops on the ground floor. At that meeting, someone from the audience rightly asked: If there is going to be a sep arate administrative es tablishment for this, what about the Department of Handicrafts? And there was promptly a repartee that that would go for the casinos. So one can see the opacity of the whole ex ercise of Unity Mall and One District One Product Schemes. There is noth ing that indicates how the producer of the product or the artisans would benefit from this exercise. If an ything, it would provide opportunities to the more economically upward sections to avail of this, because it would not be feasible for the small pro ducer, or artisan. There would also be a politics of control and partisanship setting in because only forty stalls are provided for. There are no reserved spaces and procurement quotas either for Dalit, Adivasi, women’s, and mi nority producer groups. Even if there is a green signal environment-wise, one has also got to look at the cost–benefit anal yses comparing Rupees 100 plus crore Unity Malls with equivalent investment in decentralised artisan support. Where is the so cial and economic impact assessment, where is the baseline data inventorising what the lands proposed to be acquired or utilized for Unity Malls, are present ly used for; or what such area presently serves for its neighbourhood? The people of Chimbel comprising substantially of the Adivasi communi ties, have shown the way in many more ways than one. Earlier, some people in struggles have drifted away after assurances were made which did not take effect, such as assurance made by then Chief Minis ter Pratapsingh Rane about not allowing casinos. Before the Unity Mall is relocated somewhere, all the various critical issues including those related to spatial planning at a de centralised level, decision making about support to the community or to arti sans at levels where they can have the autonomy, ac countability of those who are constantly found vio lating even the set norms for permissions need to be discussed and the tendency of homogenization needs to be nipped in the bud. (Albertina Almeida is a lawyer and human rights activist)
