NEW
DELHI: The Union government on Wednesday disclosed that the request of then Goa
Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar (now Defence Minister) in May 2013 for Special Status
to Goa was ‘examined and not considered feasible’.
The then CM wanted Special Status for Goa ‘for regulating ownership and
transfer of land in order to conserve the limited resources available for
development and to ensure that the State preserves its unique identity,’ said
Minister of State for Home Haribhai Chaudhary in a written reply in the Rajya
Sabha to Congress MP Shantaram Naik.
He said the then CM had sought the Special Status granted to Mizoram, Himachal
Pradesh and Uttaranchal under Article 371 or any other provision of the
Constitution. The special provisions have been made for as many as 12 States under
Article 371 of the Constitution of India, the minister said, adding that no
other State has requested for these special provisions.
Naik told Herald that the minister’s reply is a slap on the BJP, and
particularly on Parrikar, who had made Special Status an election issue in the
2012 Assembly elections and 2014 Lok Sabha elections, promising Goans to get
the special provisions under Article 371. BJP is in power at the Centre and in
Goa and Parrikar is part of the Union Cabinet but neither the party nor Parrikar
bothered to pursue the matter to protect Goa inundated by real estate sharks, Naik
said, asserting that both BJP and Parrikar stand exposed for making false
promises as they did not follow up Goa’s case for Special Status.
Naik
said the minister’s reply that no other State has sought the ‘special
provisions’ under Article 371 also nails the lie of Chief Minister Laxmikant
Parsekar that many other States have also made similar demand. What other States
wanted was the status of ‘special category’ granted by the executive orders to
entitle the State financial packages and special schemes, while Goa wanted a
Constitutional amendment under Article 371 to make the ‘special provisions’ for
the State, including restrictions on purchase of land and properties by
non-Goans.
