MAPUSA: The North Goa Congress Committee on Saturday demanded that the government should grant 50 per cent reduction in collection of house tax for the year 2020-21 and also 50 per cent reductions on electricity and water bills for every household.
President Vijay Bhike said, “People supported and cooperated with the government and stayed indoors during lockdown period. However, people are going through financial crisis since the businesses are shut. The government cannot expect the people to stay indoors without any income and pay for all their bills.”
Congress also demanded that government should cut off unnecessary expenditure and initiate measures to reduce the administrative costs as the State is not in a position to meet the budgetary target.
“The Chief Minister should shrink the size of the Cabinet and should function with just five Cabinet ministers. Also the salaries and allowance of all the ministers and MLAs should be cut to 50 per cent till the year ending 2020,” Bhike added.
Stating that fish is the staple diet of State and it should be included in the list of essential commodities, Congress said, “The government should issue an ordinance to include fish as essential commodity and regulate the price and the import and export of fish in the State.”
Further demanding that the examinations of SSC and HSSC should be postponed, the Committee said that the government should immediately review the situation and postpone the examinations in the month of June or any further time since with the rising number of COVID-19 cases in the State have put the parents and students in worried situation that they may get exposed to risk of coronavirus.
The Congress further demanded that Science and Technology and Waste Management Minister Micheal Lobo to test the pollution level of River Mandovi by engaging the expertise of the National Institute of Oceanography before the monsoon.
“The locals staying along the river side were being accused of polluting the water by leaving their waste into it. However, since the time the casinos are stopped operating, the pollution level have actually come down,” a North Goa Congress Committee member said.
