A single spell ing mistake has cost Goa three decades of partici patory planning. The word ‘special’ — written instead of ‘spatial’ — in the Goa Panchayat Raj Act de nied local bodies their constitutional role in land-use planning and development. After 30 long years, that costly error has fi nally been corrected. The Goa Panchayat Raj (Amendment) Bill, 2025, which restores the correct term ‘spatial planning’, was passed by the Goa Legislative Assembly in March and received the Governor’s assent on October 22, 2025.
The amendment aligns the law with Article 243ZD of the Constitution, which mandates participatory planning through District Planning Committees. The Goa Bachao Abhiyan (GBA), which had persistently campaigned for the correction, welcomed the Governor’s assent and urged the government to notify the amendment without further delay. The Bill was passed in March and forwarded to the Governor in August, following decades of advocacy by the GBA. “This one word — ‘special’ instead of ‘spatial’ — de prived Goans of their right to participate in the planning of their villages and towns as envisaged under the Constitu tion,” said Sabina Martins, Convenor of the GBA. “With this amendment, the power of spatial land-use planning finally returns to the people through their locally elected bodies. Now, it must be activated and put into practice.” Martins described the amendment as a tectonic shift in Goa’s planning process, moving from a top-down approach to a bottom-up participatory model. Planning will now be gin at the Ward Development Committee level within Vil lage Panchayats and Municipal Councils, move to the Zilla Panchayat for District Plans, and culminate in the State Re gional Plan. She pointed out that while several other Bills were quick ly cleared and notified, this crucial amendment — which empowers the people — faced unexplained delays. The Governor’s office confirmed the assent to the State government, and Secretary (Law) Sandip Jacques stated that the Bill has now been sent for Gazette notification. The GBA has urged the government to provide techni cal expertise, training and financial support to Panchayati Raj Institutions and Urban Local Bodies to help them fulfil their spatial planning responsibilities. It also called for the alignment of related laws — including the Town and Coun try Planning (TCP) Act, Goa Municipalities Act, and Invest ment Promotion Board (IPB) Act — with the Panchayati Raj Amendment. “The environmental destruction caused by excluding people from the planning process through arbitrary amend ments to the TCP Act must now stop,” Martins asserted. With this long-overdue correction, Goa can finally move towards a democratic, people-driven planning process — one where the future of villages and towns is shaped not behind closed doors, but by the people themselves
