PTI, PANJIM: In a commendable act, Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant has said, “If, knowingly or unknowingly, any State or labourers from any State were hurt, (by his remark purportedly saying 90% of Goa’s criminals are migrants) then I express regret.”
His timely act has nipped in the bud any controversy arising out of his remarks on Labour Day. He also said that his statement about migrant labourers being responsible for crime in the State was “twisted”.
If any State or labourers from any State were hurt by it, he regrets it, he told reporters here.
A JD(U) leader filed a complaint before a magistrate’s court in Patna on Wednesday over Sawant’s remark that “90 per cent” of crimes in Goa were committed by migrant labourers from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.
“I had spoken in Konkani during the Labour Day function on May 1. We felicitated labourers from all the States on the occasion. My speech, which was in Konkani, was twisted by some political leaders,” Sawant claimed.
Those speaking about his speech should watch the video, he said.
Labourers come to Goa from all over the country and the State government has made labour cards compulsory for them so that they can get the benefit of welfare schemes, he said.
These cards will also help track down a person if he commits a crime in Goa, he said.
