PANJIM, FEB 2
Deputy Speaker Mauvin Godinho on Wednesday critcised the State government for not pressing hard on the demand for Special Status for Goa.
Participating in the discussion on motion of thanks on Godinho said that despite the Central government going out of its way to help Goa, the government doesn’t seem to be interested in getting projects sanctioned for the state.
“The Central government has gone out of its way to help the people who would have lost the houses due to the expansion of national highways in Goa. Similarly, on CRZ issue, it has helped the fishermen who were on the verge of losing their houses.”
On Special status, he said, the leaders in the past have failed to get this demand of the people met.
“When I say special status I mean about protecting Goa’s identity. The illegal constructions and the rise in the crime rate will come down once we get special status,” he said adding that these are the problems due to large scale migration in the state.
But, he continued, the government has not done much to get this demand met even when the Central government has been so supportive.
On the Rs 200 cr sanctioned by the Centre for the 50 years celebration, he said, “Rs 200 cr is nothing, we should have got much more.”
He said that Goa is a tourist state but it has failed to create additional infrastructure.
“When centre is going extra mile to help what are we doing as in Tourism sector even Rajasthan is getting more aid then Goa,” he said adding “We have failed to impress centre on the issue.”
The Cortalim legislator also demanded that the state charge some kind of tax for the trucks carrying ore from neighbouring states.
“These trucks are adding additional load on the state’s infrastructure and we must come out with some kind of tax for maintaining the infrastructure,” he said.
On the law and order situation, he said, “the state is getting bad reputation due to the alleged involvement of police personnel’s in drug trade.”
“We get to know from other states that our policemen are involved in drug smuggling,” he said pointing to a Margao head constable being arrested in Belgaum for smuggling narcotics.
