Despite directives 6 govt offices refuse to vacate Spaces Bldg

VITHALDAS HEGDE

vhegde3@herald-goa.com

PANJIM: The six government offices which were situated in the private Space Buildings at Patto-Panjim have refused to relocate, while two Cabinet Ministers have even written to Chief Minister Pramod Sawant stating they will not relocate the offices of their departments. 

General Administration Department (GAD) has asked the government offices situated on different floors of the private building to shift to the government premises by October 31 and to function from new government premises from November 1.

The offices of the Civil Registrar-cum-Sub Registrar, Tiswadi taluka; office of Goa Investment Promotion and Facilitation Board; office of Real Estate and Regulatory Authority (RERA) and the Rural Development Agency (RDA) are still functioning from the private premises while, only the Judicial Magistrate First Class (JMFC) courts were shifted to the old High Court building at Atinho.

The government had decided to accommodate these offices in the BSNL buildings at Patto-Panjim and Porvorim and few offices in the Goa Housing Board market complex building at Porvorim.  

Law Minister Nilesh Cabral said that he has refused to shift the Civil Registrar-cum-Sub Registrar, Tiswadi taluka to the BSNL building.

“I have written to the Chief Minister stating that I cannot shift the Civil Registrar-cum-Sub Registrar, Tiswadi taluka office to the BSNL office where one lift is not functioning and there are other issues,” he said.

Cabral said that the Civil Registrar-cum-Sub Registrar is an important department where a large number of people, mostly senior citizens, visit to register “wills” and other property documents and that he cannot see them waiting on the ground floor to go to the sixth floor. 

Cabral said that the Spaces Building, being a private premises, was properly maintained with lifts functioning smoothly. Currently the office is situated on the 4th floor of the building and there are no complaints from the people, he said, adding that there was also not much of a difference in the monthly rent being paid currently and the one proposed by BSNL.

RDA Minister Michael Lobo too has refused to relocate the RDA office situated on the 7th floor. He is of the opinion that the RDA is constructing its own premises at Merces and the department would be shifted there within a year. He has sought extension of time.

In July this year, Sawant had assured the members in the Goa Assembly that  all the offices situated in the Spaces Building would be shifted and housed in the government premises after members raised the issue of huge rent paid by the government to house offices in the private building when many government premises were lying vacant.