PANJIM: Congress has questioned the claims made by Union AYUSH Minister Shripad Naik in a report booklet released by the four times North Goa MP who is seeking a fifth term.

GPCC spokesperson Amarnath Panjikar taking exception to the claims made in the report booklet, said that Shripad Naik needs to give an account of the benefits the state and the country received, while he was a Union Minister during the 5 years under Prime Minister Narendra Modi led-government.

“He has been claiming that he has done over 1000 projects under the MPLAD schemes. We would like to know if he has any project worth mentioning which he has successfully been able to complete in the state as a Union Minister”, he added.

Panjikar further pointed out that while the AYUSH Minister has been chest thumping about an AYUSH hospital to be constructed in the state, not a single AYUSH clinic has been commissioned in the state. “There are a lot of ready to use constructed buildings in the state and places could be rented to run these clinics like other offices. But there is not a single clinic in Goa”, he said.

He further said that Shripad Naik has claimed that he has constructed 80 community halls and 70 crematoriums, however, now people have started to gherao him wherever he is going for campaigning.

“In Sarvan village of Mayem, villagers’ gheraoed him demanding to know where has the crematorium project in their village gone. The mining dependents, affected taxi owners, unemployed youth amongst others are now questioning him over his works in the last 20 years”, Panjikar stated.

Taking a jibe at the increasing unemployment in the state, GPCC Communication Department Convenor, Trajano D’Mello, said that Naik silently watched how mining dependents become unemployed. “To solve the problem, he could not even get an appointment of the Prime Minister and that proves his inefficiency and no trust in him”, he added.