Town and Country Planning Minister Vishwajit Rane stood firm on Sections 39A and 17(2) of the TCP Act, stating on the floor of the House on Wednesday that he would continue to honour the legislation passed in the Assembly, bringing to a close any hopes of a repeal. Rane accused Opposition MLAs of presenting “unrealistic figures” of land conversions and creating false public perception while stating that “only 0.2 per cent of land under the Regional Plan has been converted” under the sections.
Goa has been on the boil lately over Section 39A with political leaders mainly from the Opposition, civil society and locals demanding scrapping of the contentious section. If we recall, the recent hunger strike and the accompanying protest in Panaji, including a march to the TCP Minister's Dona Paula residence, were solely for the repeal of 39A. Movements like Enough is Enough have been revolving around land conversion issues. Lately, a delegation headed by Leader of the Opposition Yuri Alemao called upon the Governor at Lok Bhavan seeking a Special Assembly session to discuss 39A and told the Governor that Section 39A had become a flashpoint for widespread concern, threatening the state’s ecological balance, heritage, and social fabric.
Against that background, and given the fact that Chief Minister Pramod Sawant consistently maintained that repealing laws cannot be done by protests but through debates within the hallowed precincts of the Legislative Assembly, there was an expectation that people’s voices would find an echo. Yes, RGP MLA Viresh Borkar and AAP counterpart Venzy Viegas made forceful pleas seeking repeal of the Sections, while Yuri Alemao, Vijai Sardesai and others in the Opposition briefly touched upon the broader issue of land conversions.
Surprisingly, except for Borkar, no legislator contested the claim that only 0.2 per cent of land under the Regional Plan has been converted under the sections. While the opposition pressed their case, the discourse soon diverged into sideline debates, with many MLAs sidestepping the core issue— heritage loss, environmental degradation, and unchecked urbanization —and instead deviating into discussions on land figures, project approvals, and the status of regulations. Moreover, Rane’s claim of the subject being “sub-judice” went uncontested.
While Goa’s long-standing land controversy remain unresolved, Wednesday’s session exposed an uncomfortable reality that there is a clear lack of political will to enforce a change. We say this because there was no sense of purpose or firepower. Ironically, on Thursday, when the Calling Attention Motion on the Deposit Refund Scheme was discussed, a section of MLAs were seen charging into the Well of the House demanding a detailed discussion while agreeing to drop the subsequent Calling Attention Motion scheduled for the day. The intensity with which discussions happened over DRS and the several other issues debated so far was missing in the case of 39A. The demand for repeal became a mere footnote rather than a turning point.
The long-awaited push for the repeal of section 39A turned out to be a damp squib in the House, and probably, there may not be another moment or opportunity. Democracy demands more than ordinary debates in the Assembly; it demands courage to confront power when it matters most. Inaction in moments that call for conviction erodes public faith, and slowly, the trust that binds citizens to those who serve them gives way to suspicion and disillusionment.
