PANAJI
Leader of Opposition Digambar Kamat on Wednesday dropped clues about the contours of the Congress party's manifesto for the upcoming state assembly polls.
Speaking at a function in Sanquelim, Kamat said that the party's poll manifesto will draw content and direction from a comprehensive report drafted in 2012 by a committee headed by former head of the Council for Science and Industrial Research and a Goan native, Dr Raghunath Mashelkar.
"When we draft our manifesto we are thinking of incorporating certain things from that report. That report was prepared by eminent personalities," Kamat said.
The committee headed by Mashelkar also comprised of renowned scientists like former chairman of the Atomic Energy Establishment Dr Anil Kakodkar, economists like former professor of economics at IIM Ahmedabad Prof Errol D'Souza, litterateurs like Girish Karnad, environmentalists like Prof Madhav Gadgil, architect Charles Correia, as well as officials of the Goa government. While the brief to draft the vision document was given to the committee by a Congress-led coalition government headed by then Chief Minister Kamat, the report was submitted in May 2012 to a BJP-led coalition government headed by Chief Minister late Manohar Parrikar.
"Unfortunately, when the report was submitted, I was not the Chief Minister. The report was kept under wraps. We are going through the report now," Kamat said.
Interestingly, the report had rapped the Goa government for reckless promotion of tourism activity.
“There is a need to review the Goa Tourism Policy and evaluate its direct and significant impact on the Goan culture and heritage… Goa is not only the land of sun & sand but a state having (a) rich yet diverse mosaic of culture blended with religious and communal harmony,” the report had said.
The report had also called for a cap on the issue of licenses for the construction of any new tourist resort or expansion of existing facilities until a carrying capacity study was carried out by the government.
Kamat said that the idea for drafting a vision document for Goa struck him when he bumped into Mashelkar in-flight and Mashelkar had shown him a similar vision report for India by the year 2035.
"It struck me, 'why don't we do something like this for Goa'. Therefore I requested Mashelkar. I said we are celebrating the golden jubilee of Goa. Can you prepare such a document for the state of Goa," Kamat said, recalling his encounter with Mashelkar.
"He said, yes 'I love Goa'. Under his chairmanship, I formed a Golden Jubilee Development Council and the Goa Vision 2035 document was devised. On the committee were Charles Correia, Dr (PS) Ramani, Vijay Kelkar, Anil Kakodkar, all sons of Goa from different sectors. They submitted the report," Kamat said.
