CM: Nehru would have given special status

CM: Nehru would have given special status
HERALD REPORTER
PANJIM, AUG 14
The current crisis being faced by traditional fishermen community due to coastal regulations zone (CRZ) would not have cropped up if Goans had to ask for special status from Prime Minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru soon after liberation, Chief Minister Digambar Kamat said on Saturday.
“If we had to ask for a special status, Pandit Nehru would have given special status for the State of Goa. Unfortunately, we did not think on those lines and that’s why we are facing lots of problem,” Kamat said.
The chief minister said that Pandit Nehru was in mood to give whatever Goans wanted at that time.
“At that time probably if Goans have had to put up certain demands then, the prime minister would have agreed to it. But we failed to put it up before him,” Kamat said.
Chief Minister was talking at the concluding session of the two-day-long media workshop on ‘Coasts, Coastal Populations and their Concerns’ jointly organised by Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) and Goa Union of Journalists (GUJ) at Goa University.
At the briefing, Kamat was justifying why Goa was added in the list of special consideration in the proposed CRZ 2010 Act.
“When we put up our case for special consideration before Ministry for Environment and Forest (MoEF) our aim was to protect the rights of traditional fishing community, who have been staying on the coast for years,” he explained.
He believes that CRZ policy should be such which will protect the coast and at the same time won’t deprive the fisherman from their livelihood.
“There has to be total transparency in the regulation…that’s what we call good governance,” he added.
“The sentiments of the people need to be taken into confidence, while taking major steps,” he stated.
Kamat admitted that the developmental pressure on the coast is increasing day-by-day and in the bargain the traditional inhabitants of the coast are getting targeted.