PANJIM: With just a week left for the two-day session of the Goa Legislative Assembly, during which the Chief Minister Dr Pramod Sawant is expected to reintroduce the controversial Goa Bhumiputra Adhikarini Bill 2021, the bill passed in July this year has been published in the Goa gazette for “general information” of the public.
Interestingly, the Bill has been published, well over two months after it was kept open for public suggestions and objections on August 4, following a severe backlash from cross sections over the hurried passage of the Bill in the House at midnight.
Sawant had announced that the government will reintroduce the Bill after incorporating suggestions in the next session of the Assembly, which is scheduled on October 18 and 19.
Legislature Secretary Namrata Ulman said the bill is being published to fulfill the requirement of Rule 138 of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business of the Goa Legislative Assembly. She explained that this is an essential requirement for any bill passed by the House.
When contacted, former Legislature Secretary Nilkhant Subhedar said that once a bill is introduced and passed in the House, it has to be published in the official gazette for general public information.
“Once the Bill gets the Governor’s assent, the same is published again and it stands notified and becomes a law. These are the basic requirements under the rule,” he explained.
The Chief Minister had last month said that the Bill has received around 150 suggestions from the public and that it has not been sent to the Governor for assent.
According to the proposed law, any person who is a resident of Goa for more than 30 years qualifies as a ‘bhumiputra’ (son of the soil) and can apply for ownership of a house (up to a plinth area of 250 square metres) she/he has been living in even if the land on which it stands is owned by the government, a private person or is commonly owned. Any structure built before April 1, 2019, qualifies for ownership.
The Bill was passed amid a walkout by the opposition, which accused the government of rushing poorly thought out bills without adequate discussion.
Besides the opposition, civil society also called it a ‘mockery’ of Goans and had demanded its withdrawal. Several delegations had even approached Governor PS Sreedharan Pillai requesting him not to grant his assent to the Bill.
