It is necessary to develop Tiracol golf course, as it will be job-oriented for the Goans. Anti-golf course activists and priest like Rev. Fr. Francis Rodrigues and Fr. Maverick Fernandes who are the part of CRT should realize that the ownership rights should be maintained. The locals should know that fruit bearing trees should not be claimed as agricultural tenancy as they are not cultivated as per Land to the Tiller Act. The government should do away with such misunderstanding among the people of Goa.
The owners of the land had given benefit for these villagers to live in their land, free of cost and to look after their property. Since the original owners did not get their livelihood from their ancestral land in the form of revenue, they were forced to sell the non-agricultural land with fruit bearing trees, which did not give them any income, hence outsiders purchased the land from the fruit bearing trees land owners, which was non-cultivable.
The original owners felt that they were cheated by the so-called fruit bearing trees tenants and mundkars under the Agricultural Tenancy and Mundkar law which is falsely claimed as the owners did not receive any reasonable yearly payment of their acres of land. Under the pretext of continuing to work in the cashew plantation and make a living, some Goans are trying to cheat and deprive the ownership right of the land owner. In order to prevent such false claims the government should clarify the ownership rights and give justice to the owner of the land to prevent the land being robbed by a caretaker under the law of Agricultural Tenancy and Mundkar Act, as right to fair compensation must be taken into consideration for the farm land owner, if the land is acquired in the interest of the village or for the government purpose.
Camilo D’Souza, by email
