MARGAO
The United Goans Foundation has cautioned Panchayat Minister Mauvin Godinho over any attempt to bring Amendment to the Panchayat Raj Act to issue house numbers to illegal structures, saying the policy will encourage encroachments and have a negative impact on Goa
“Mauvin is trying a metro-style exercise of regularisation of slums where first house numbers are given for some years and then files disappear and land ownership is granted on the grounds that government granted these illegal structures 'legality' at some point of time”, stated UGF Secretary Avinash Tavares.
Saying the Panchayat minister's announcement to allot house numbers to illegal structures across Goa to generate revenue for panchayats across Goa lacks any application of thought, he said it's obvious that this announcement is made to woo his voters many of whom are living in slum-like conditions on communidade land.
“Before the 2017 elections, a similar policy was implemented to appease the vote bank of encroachers. The Regularisarion of Unauthorised Structures bill was proposed to regularise illegal structures on Communidade land and other people’s private property. When we UGF exposed the bill, the government took a step back and tabled a bill that permitted regularisation of unauthorised structures in a person’s own private property. When the Act was implemented by the previous government, thousands of applications were received by people who thought they could regularise their structures in communidade land. Five years later the government has not regulated even the unauthorised structures of applicants in their own property, let alone those in communidade land”, he said.
Tavares said, “Having failed his voters with the Regulation Act, the panchayat minister is abusing his position to create a back door to give legal rights to encroachers and squatters. His justification is that the panchayat is losing revenue since these encroachers don't pay house tax. He and his government doesn't realise the government will stand to lose far more in terms of conversion sanad fees, zone conversion charges, sale deed stamp duty and registration charges, partition and mutation fees, technical clearance fees, construction license fees etc. Why would anyone pay all these charges that run into lakhs if they can construct the structure illegally and then apply for a house number under Godinho's proposed amendment to the Panchayat Act?"
