VASCO: The Goa State Industries Association (GSIA) said that the government’s apathy towards industries continued till date.
GSIA President Damodar Kochkar said that the association had raised issue of pathetic road conditions in different industrial estates across the State in November last year. Following this, the government released Rs 5 crore for undertaking infrastructural improvements in the industrial estates. The GSIA had indicated priority works to be taken up with the limited Budget including the dilapidated road in the Kundaim Industrial Estate.
Kochkar alleged that since then the government started inviting and later gave the excuse of Model Code of Conduct which came into force for the Assembly elections.
He recalled that the workers from the Kundaim Industrial Estate had resorted to “rasta rook” and that the association had assured the protestors that the road would be repaired after Code of Conduct is lifted.
“But now almost one-month had passed and the file is moving up and down,” he said.
The GSIA president has strongly objected to powers given to the GIDC chairman to decide on awarding tenders to the lowest contractors if the quotation received is less than 20 per cent of the estimated cost as per the provision of a clause in which if more than one. “This is nothing but blatant corruption provision for the GIDC chairman to make ‘money’,” he said.
Kochkar said, “This is really sad that even after forming of a new government, industry has to go through such hardships. As a president of GSIA, I strongly condemn this state of affairs of this government.”
