MARGAO: Even as the Goa Kul Mundkar Sangharsh Samiti (GKMSS) on Tuesday presented a memorandum to MLA Reginaldo Lourenco urging him to solve the problem and settle the matter in the ensuing Assembly session, Reginaldo replied that he had already tabled a question over the matter and assured that he would do whatever was required.
The first thing that Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar should do on returning to Goa is to resolve the tenants and mundkars issue, Reginald said, adding that the Parrikar has been making promises but not doing anything on the matter.
Convener of GKMSS Rupesh Naik said the downtrodden from Pernem, Bardez, Quepem and Ponda taluka along with many others had to suffer as their cases were being dismissed by courts as they could not present their case properly in the absence of documentary evidence.
Hence, the government has to withdraw all the three amendments made to the Goa Daman and Diu Agricultural Tenancy Act by Manohar Parrikar during his earlier stint as chief minister and revert to the original act that was passed in 1964, he added.
“What Parrikar did was convert the Agricultural tenancy Act into a Landlord’s Act where the tenants’ interest was sacrificed to uphold the landlord’s interest,” Naik pointed out.
The sunset clause mentioned in Section 60(c) whereby the cases should be disposed off within three years also needs to be withdrawn along with Section 4(a) permitting contract farming, he said, adding that all these amendments were detrimental to the tenants.
He demanded that the government undertake a survey of all tenants in the state and the tenants be given the title documents of the properties.
GKMSS President Daniel D’Souza lamented that even after so many years of liberation, tenants and mundkars have to continue living at the mercy of the landlords.
