MARGAO
In a development that may ring in good news for the stakeholders of the construction industry, PWD Minister Nilesh Cabral has said the government is on the job to revise the Goa Scheduled of Rates (GSR) which would help tide over the problems faced by the stakeholders because of the price escalation of construction material.
The minister has also urged the Builders Association of India, Goa Chapter, to set up skill development at the ITIs in the state to upgrade the skills of the trainees to meet the requirements of the construction industry.
Speaking at the installation ceremony of the President of Goa Chapter of Builders Association of India, Cabral invited suggestions from the association to the process initiated by the government to revise the GSR rates.
“The association can associate with the government in the process to come out with the new GSR rates and put a new system and technology in place to meet the requirements. The stakeholders have been facing challenges over sand, with people getting arrested and trucks being seized. We have to come out with new technology to overcome the issues”, he added.
Conceding that price escalation has been an issue which has come to haunt the builders, contractors and the government as well, Cabral said he has come out with a mechanism for the road contractors as
the roads were really in bad shape.
Referring to the suggestion made by the Builders Association to the government to allot them land to set skill development to upscale the skills of the people working in the construction sector, Cabral said,
“Allotment of land may be an issue at the moment, but the association can associate with the ITIs and impart skills and training to students. We can even inculcate the training and skill upgradation in the curriculum”.
On the association’s plea to extend the 30 per cent rebate in infrastructure tax given by the Goa government because of Covid-19 for another year, the PWD Minister said the government will be willing to extend whatever support and help to the sector needs.
He suggested to the Builders Association to cooperate and coordinate with the government for a win-win situation as he cited instances wherein some buildings, having around 100-200 flats, have still not obtained water connections, but are supplying water through tankers.
He also pointed out to the builders to ensure that the high-rise and elevated buildings have water connections, saying though the elevated buildings may give the owners a bird’s eye view, they may have water issues in the future because of the height of the structure.
