Continuing with their agitation against proposed IIT project at Sanguem, the farmers accused the government of misusing its machinery only to harass the farming community in Sanguem.
Speaking to reporters from their sit-in agitation venue at Dando-Sanguem, the farmers denounced the government’s decision to impose Section 144 during Chief Minister Pramod Sawant’s visit to Sanguem on Wednesday as unwarranted and claimed deployment of over 300 policemen from Dando to Sanguem did not make any sense.
A farmer, Anil Prabhu Malkarnekar, accused the government of falsely claiming ownership of the land at Cotarli village, insisting that the land in question belongs solely to the Communidade and the locals who are cultivating the land.
“It is not the farmers who should step back from their agitation, but rather it is the government who should think otherwise and shift the proposed IIT from pristine agricultural land at Cotarli Sanguem to some other destination,” said Malkarnekar.
“The deployment of hundreds of policemen during the chief minister’s visit to Sanguem shows the government’s attitude towards the agitating farmers. The farmers have every right to meet the chief minister and express their concern.”
“If the government was concerned of employment avenues to locals, it would have not shut down the Sanjivani Sugar Factory at Usgao, which provided livelihood to hundreds of farmers from all over Goa,” Malkarnekar added.
The farmers also castigated the government for forcibly driving them away from their farmlands by imposing Section 144 within the proposed IIT project, where they have agricultural plantations.
The farmers have vowed to continue their agitation till the government takes a step back and shifts the IIT project elsewhere in the State.
