PANAJI
The Goa Pradesh Congress Committee on Saturday called the State government’s decision to withdraw its communication on the proposed urbanisation of 56 villages a “humiliating retreat” caused by strong public opposition.
Party president Girish Chodankar said the BJP government was forced to withdraw the proposal after sustained protests from affected villages, gram panchayats, social organisations, and political parties.
He said, “The withdrawal of this notification is not the BJP government’s generosity; it is the result of the united resistance of the people of Goa. This victory belongs to every villager, every panchayat, every social organisation, and every citizen who refused to allow Goa’s identity to be compromised.”
He alleged that the government tried to push the urbanisation plan without building public consensus and ignored the constitutional role of panchayats, as well as concerns related to land use, ecology, infrastructure, governance, and Goa’s cultural heritage.
Accusing the BJP government of repeatedly reversing decisions only after public protests, Chodankar said governance cannot work through confrontation with the people. “Goa deserves consultation, transparency and respect, not arbitrary decisions imposed from above,” he said, adding that while the government had corrected its mistake, it should never have brought the proposal in the first place.
The Congress leader warned the government against making future attempts to pursue policies that, according to the party, could threaten Goa’s villages, environment, land, culture, and local self-governance.
He said the Congress would continue to oppose what it called anti-people and anti-Goa decisions, including indiscriminate urbanisation, commercialisation of public assets, environmental degradation, and weakening of local self-governance.
