The Vanxim island sale is not one of those that can be swept under the carpet. And the church, which owned the land has had to clarify twice. Once when reports of the sale began to surface in the media and now after the Industrial Promotion Board gave its nod for construction of an eco-tourism project. In this case public view is not on the side of the church and the barrage of questions has refused to die down. The church has, rightly or wrongly, had to face a lot of flak for its decision to sell the island. Two reasons why it finds itself at the receiving end are “ lack of a comprehensive explanation in the first instance and it is being judged post the regional plan agitation for an act done in good faith in 1999, and that by any measure is unfair.
On another level the church is also a victim of perception. In the eyes of the public the land was sold by the church, but in reality, the tenants were the driving force and party to the sale. According to the clarification provided by the Archdiocese, it was the tenants who set the ball rolling and eventually forced the hand of the church. Prior to that the church had rejected an offer to sell because it was less than Rs 10 per sq mts, which was the price set by a team of advisors to the church.
In 1995, the Vanxim tenants association petitioned the mamlatdar for purchase of the encumbered portion of the property admeasuring over three lakh square meters at a rate of 35 paise per sq mt. This move was challenged by the church, but it lost and was on the verge of losing a major portion of the island for a song. The question here is why did the tenants association petition the mamlatdar when the land was not being cultivated due to ingress of saline water? The game became cleared in 1996 when a buyer approached the church with an offer to buy the entire property of over 5 lakh sq mts and attached an NOC from the tenants association to the application.
The church was now caught in a peculiar situation. On the one hand it had an offer for purchase of the entire property and on the other it stood to lose a major chunk for a pittance to tenants who had already entered into an agreement with the buyer. The archdiocese set in motion the process for sale of land which also included seeking a nod from Rome. When this was completed and agreement of sale was signed between the church and Mahendra Gaunekar in 1999 for a total consideration of Rs 37,02,500 for the unencumbered portion of 1.85 lakh sq meters and Rs 18 lakh for the encumbered area of 3 lakh sq meters. The settlement between the tenants and buyer was never made public and the money paid to them remains under wraps. In effect the sale was a tripartite agreement between the church, tenants who were keen in monetizing their tenancy, and the buyer and hence it is incorrect to say the church alone sold the land.
The clarification given by the Archdiocese throws light on the various factors that eventually led to the sale of land on Vanxim island, which should silence its critics. More importantly, the clarification also reveals the process undertaken to arrive at a decision and fix a price for the sale of price which should convince those who think the sale was conducted under a veil of secrecy. This time the church is a lot more convincing.
