Photo caption:
Dr Francisco Colaco addressing the 'Orixtt Porjecho Avaz' meet at Lohia Maidan, Margao on Monday. Santosh Mirajkar
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MARGAO
'Orixtt Porjecho Avaz' at a meet held at Lohia Maidan, Margao, on Monday, passed a resolution demanding that the government call off the Defence Expo to be held in Goa before the commencement of the forthcoming Winter Session of Assembly on January 11.
The State government and Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar received severe flak for shifting the Defence Expo from Pragati Maidan, New Delhi to Goa and the State government for its meek acquiescence in allowing the Defence Ministry to hold the same.
Addressing the meet, Prescie Pereira claimed the panchayats in the close vicinity of Quitol have passed resolutions against holding this show.
Dr Francisco Colaco castigated the government for misutilisation of the land at Quitol (Betul) while Betul panch Sudhakar Joshi said a total of 23.26 lakh square metres of land has already been acquired by the State government earlier without any benefit to the local Betul panchayat. He demanded to know as to what the government proposes to do with this land once the fiveÂ-day Defence Expo concludes.
“If people don't want the Defence Expo, then we will not allow it to be held,” Joshi told the audience.
Social activist Sorter D'Souza from Porvorim claimed the Defence Expo only benefits the rich while Quepem taluka requires basic infrastructure such as health centre and educational facilities.
Betul sarpanch Shrikrishna said the land was acquired by the erstwhile government for IDC. “What will the Defence Expo do there?” he questioned.
Charles D'Souza of Kanaguinim raised many questions as regards the Expo. He demanded to know as to who will bear the expenditure to be incurred for this show. “Who said the Pragati Maidan in Delhi is not available for the Defence Expo?” he questioned. He demanded that the Defence Expo to be held in Goa be stopped and the same be held at Pragati Maidan, Delhi.
GFDO Convenor Fr Eremito Rebelo gave a clarion call for unity and said the people of Goa will decide what they want and do not want. He claimed that the Defence establishment has lot of land in the State. Fr Eremito also castigated the government for “bypassing” the local government. “We Goans are stakeholders and we will decide what is good for Goa,” Fr Eremito remarked.
Savio Fernandes called for safeguarding our unity while Freddy Agnelo Fernandes 'Orixtt Porjecho Avaz' tells govt questioned the government as to how the Defence Expo will benefit Goans. He informed the audience about the speed with which this Expo was cleared while stating that the annual Defence Expo is held in Delhi and Air Show in Bengaluru.
The meet later adopted the resolution demanding that the government call off the Defence Expo to be held in Goa before the commencement of the forthcoming Winter Session of Assembly on January 11.
