MARGAO
After almost four decades of waiting, six families displaced during the construction of the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium at Fatorda may finally get ownership of the land they live on.
Chief Minister Pramod Sawant has assured that the families will be given land ownership titles under the Mhaje Ghar scheme.
The assurance came after Fatorda MLA Vijai Sardesai raised the issue during the Chief Minister’s visit to the Nehru Stadium for the naming of the West Stand after former Sports Minister, the late Francisco Monte Cruz.
After the event, members of the six affected families, along with Sardesai, met the Chief Minister and explained that although they had been shifted to a new site to make way for the stadium and had built houses there, they never received ownership papers.
“We have been running from pillar to post to get the land title, but without success. Our MLA Vijai Sardesai has taken up the matter, and the Chief Minister has now assured us that we will finally get the title,” said a member of one of the families.
In response, the Chief Minister directed Sports Director Ajay Gaude to start the process of granting ownership titles based on the original allotment letters. Sardesai informed the Chief Minister that while the Sports Department may not have copies of these letters, the families still possess their documents.
Calling their demand “genuine,” Sawant said the government would regularise their ownership under the Mhaje Ghar scheme by recognising their houses as Class I structures, upon payment of Rs 1,000.
“They are entitled to the land allotted to them, along with an additional two square metres around their houses. The houses built by these six families will be given ownership titles under the Mhaje Ghar scheme,” the Chief Minister said.
Fatorda MLA Vijai Sardesai later told the media that the six families had been waiting anxiously for years for this day.
“I hope the government machinery now acts on the Chief Minister’s directions and finally gives relief to these six families,” Sardesai said.
