Team Herald
PANJIM: Raising strong objection to the State government’s decision to grant permission for land acquisition for double tracking of the South Western Railways (SWR), the Congress Legislature Party (CLP) on Friday urged the government to reconsider its decision.
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The CLP meeting on Friday chaired by Leader of the Opposition Digambar Kamat, also urged the government to withdraw the Goa Bhumiputra Adhikarini Bill, which was placed in the House, and conduct a proper study taking all stakeholders into confidence.
Addressing media persons post the meeting, Kamat said that despite growing and continuous opposition from the public, the government went ahead and granted permission for land acquisition for double-tracking of the South Western Railway line.
“We strongly condemn the act of the government to bulldoze its decisions against the wishes of the people. We want government to reconsider its decision. We will continue to be the voice of the people and fight to preserve and protect the identity of Goa,” he said.
Navelim MLA Luizinho Faleiro alleged that the double tracking of the railway line is being done to help Jindal and Adani, who he alleged, have turned Goa into coal destination.
Supporting him, Poriem MLA Pratapsingh Rane suggested that the double tracking can be done of the Konkan Railway route. “Why do we need to undertake double tracking of SWR by cutting trees and destroying environment?” he questioned.
Speaking on the controversial Goa Bhumiputra Adhikarini Bill, Kamat said, “How can a new Bill be introduced in the House without withdrawing the existing bill? The Bill is House property and it needs to be withdrawn from there first. It is very clear that the Bill was introduced and passed hurriedly without vetting it properly,” he said.
The CLP also blamed the BJP government for its failure and incompetency resulting in complete chaos in the administration and also raised concerns over the collapse of the law and order and steep rise in crimes in Goa. Kamat pointed to the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) report of 2020, which has shown a rise of almost 73 per cent in crimes in the State.
The CLP expressed its concern over the failure of the government to solve the mysterious death of Siddhi Naik, whose body was found on Calangute beach. It also raised concerns about the rising cases of abandoned babies (girl child) in the State.
The meeting discussed the prevailing COVID-19 situation in the State and decided to appeal to the people to take maximum precautions to avoid further spread of the coronavirus and also to take COVID-19 vaccines at the earliest and urged the government to make elaborate arrangements for the same.
The members also discussed on the reports of discrepancies’ and ambiguities in the COVID-19 deaths reported by the government and sought a detailed clarification from the Chief Minister on the lapses and goof-ups.
The CLP urged the government to immediately implement the Goenchem Daiz Scheme, which will give substantial relief to the bakers of Goa, who have now decided to hike bread price from next month. The members felt that the increaser on bread price will affect the household budget of Goans.
