Team Herald
PANJIM: The Goa Human Rights Commission (GHRC) on Friday disposed of a complaint filed by Tourism Minister Rohan Khaunte against the then government for withdrawing House Building Advance (HBA) to the government employees.
Khaunte had filed his complaint in October 2020, while in the opposition after being aggrieved by the government’s decision to withdraw the HBA scheme extended to Goa government employees in May 2020.
Following a complaint, the Commission sought reports from both, the government and the Under Secretary (Finance), Budget-II, who were named as respondents.
Adv Harsha Naik, who represented respondents, submitted that the HBA scheme was a welfare measure and it was withdrawn in 2020 in the public interest.
In its reply, the government claimed that the HBA scheme is not a right but a benefit extended to the government employees, which was based on the financial position of the State when the scheme was launched.
He said that there was tremendous pressure on the State finances in view of the decline in state revenue due to a slow down in the overall economy and it worsened due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. Thus in the light of the supervening public interest, the HBA scheme was withdrawn by the government.
