Politicians neglect Cuncolim’s three wards

The Historical Town of Cuncolim, which is reasonably developed for the last 15 years, is one of the developed and economically strong towns of Goa. There are 12 wards in Cuncolim Municipal Council (CMC) out of which three — Panzorconi, Veroda and Shimpler-Talwada — are craving for development. Right from the liberation, these three wards have remained unattended and neglected by politicians and city fathers.

Panzorconi and Talwada are economicallly backward areas having majority of Schedule Tribe population. In spite of having Goa’s third largest Industrial Estate in this area, all these wards, geographically attached to each other, have not seen the much needed development.

If one visits these wards he/she will not believe that they come under the jurisdiction of the CMC.

The condition of houses is not on par with the other town houses. Majority of the residents depend on agriculture and milk production. Since they fall in urban areas they have been deprived of the ST schemes and other government facilities.

Food, clothing and shelter are the basic needs of a person. Sources say residents of these wards are deprived of these essential needs and are now demanding for better housing facilities and availability of government schemes.

During the Congress regime the then Cuncolim MLA and urban development minister Joaquim Alemao had brought a Central Government Scheme under HUDCO to build a modern Town at Panzorconi for the ST community. The Central Government had even sanctioned the 50 per cent amount for this project. 25 per cent amount was supposed to spend by the State government and 25 per cent by the local Municipal Council. Alemao had even drawn the plan for this Scheme.

But after Joaquim lost the seat, the BJP government put the project in cold storage and his dream remained unfulfilled.

Former BJP MLA Rajan Naik did not want to go ahead with HUDCO project and tried to get ATAL ASHARA Scheme under Tribal Welfare Department but this scheme never saw the light of the day.

Now the councillors of these wards Udesh Gaonkar (Panzorcone), Sashank Dessai (Veroda) and Ashok Fadte (Sarvodem) are trying to get the Prime Minister Awas Yojana Scheme for their voters. Under this scheme one can avail the subsidised interest loan to build their own houses. Cuncolim Municipal Council, especially Vice Chairperson Sashank Dessai and Udesh and Fadte have motivated the locals to avail the benefits of this scheme. About 270 residents of Cuncolim have applied for this scheme and there is little ray of hope for locals to get a decent house of their own.