PANJIM: The Goa Forward Party (GFP) President and Fatorda MLA Vijai Sardesai on Saturday charged that the government is trying to take away the powers of granting trade licences and construction licence from the municipal councils and give them to bureaucrats.
Vijai said that under the garb of ‘Ease of Doing Business’, the government has amended several laws that make it easy for commercial establishments to violate the law without the fear of severe penalty.
The GFP president said, “The Chief Minister must stop from making any move to dilute the powers of the local bodies and instead strengthen the Vigilance Department, enforce the Time-Bound Delivery of Public Services Act and grant and devolve greater powers to the local bodies under the 11th and 12th Schedule of the Constitution of India. This will go a long way in promoting a business-friendly environment in the State.”
