PANAJI
In a nearly hour-long speech, Goa Governor P S Sreedharan Pillai painted a rosy picture of the State, saying the law and order situation is under control, the economy is well and Goa was a 'model State' for others to follow on solid waste management and some other sectors.
Delivering his address on day one of the six-day Budget session of the Goa legislative Assembly, Pillai said, the State police have ensured a crime detection rate of over 85.8% and keeping the law and order situation under control.
"This is reflected in crime detection rate which is 85.83% and seizure of 159.17 kgs of drugs worth Rs 396.35 lakh under the NDPS Act during the current financial year up to November, 2023,” Pillai said.
On road safety, the governor claimed that the State Police is making sincere efforts to make available a safe driving environment.
"Special drives to rein in drunken drivers and over-speeding have been launched by the traffic police," he said, adding that over 5 lakh traffic offences have been booked and Rs 34.39 crore in fines collected between April-November last year.
The Governor was also all praise of the State's fire fighters who in the current financial year up to October last year, they collectively attended to 5,527 emergencies in which the lives of 87 humans and 29 animals were saved.
ECONOMY
On the economic front, Pillai said, Goa has progressed tremendously and pegged the increase in the Gross State Domestic Product (at current prices) at 33 % in the '23 fiscal (projected).
The '23 GSDP growth cited by the Governor of a whopping 33 per cent, however, was against the GSDP of 2019-20 and not year-on-year.
Similarly the Governor said the per capita income in Goa also increased by 30 per cent, again in '23 fiscal as against the figures of '20 fiscal.
‘DOUBLE ENGINE’
Pillai, at least twice in his speech, mentioned the oft-repeated 'double-engine sarkar' slogan (referred to State-Central governments of the BJP), saying Goa's march forward in each and every sector is due to the "double engine government" boost.
To back his claim, he cited the 'Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Index 3.0 in which Goa he said has become 'achiever' in two goals, 'front-runner' in eight goals, 'performer' in three and aspirant in two.
INDUSTRY INVESTMENTS
Pillai claimed that the Government has cut red-tape in the processes for inflow of investment from eco-friendly industries citing the Goa Startup Policy, Agri Export Policy and Information Technology Investment Policy.
He said the the processes for investors were simplified through a single-window clearance for licencing construction of industries and also land allotment.
