the goan I network
MARGAO
Ahead of the second anniversary of the formation of the coalition government and the ensuing Lok Sabha polls, the ruling dispensation tried to woo Saxttikars on the occasion of Valentine Day, with TCP Minister Vijai Sardesai saying the government not only cares for the people of Salcete, but has fallen in love with them.
After inaugurating the Passport Seva Kendra office at the South District Collectorate, both the TCP Minister and South Goa MP Narendra Sawaikar batted for the beleaguered seafarers, who form a sizeable vote bank in Salcete, saying they have taken their woes to the level of Union Shipping Minister, Nitin Gadkari, with Sawaikar saying he expects a solution to the issue concerning the requirement of SSC qualification for Indian CDC.
The duo took the platform of the function held to officially inaugurate the Passport Seva Kendra in South Goa District Collectorate to take pot shots at the Congress leaders, questioning their failure to open the Passport Seva Kendra in Margao during the Congress rule.
“Today is Valentine Day where people share love. I want to tell the people of Salcete that the coalition government is in love with you. Salcete, they say is the heart of Goa. The Congress government at the Centre could have done this work, but they had failed to do so,” the TCP Minister said, while addressing the gathering.
He recalled that when the coalition government was formed around two years ago, people of Salcete had doubts whether development would take place in the taluka which had rallied behind Congress. “I want to tell Saxttikars that most of the promises stand fulfilled including the Passport Seva Kendra and the FDA office in Margao, which will soon see the light of day. Having a passport office in Margao was one of the agreement in the Common Minimum Programme. Barring the Western bypass, most of the promised works are either underway or are in the pipeline. Saxttikars need not worry because this government cares for them,” he said, while saying that Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar had fully supported the setting of a passport kendra in South Goa.
The TCP minister also took up cudgels for the beleaguered seafarers who are facing difficulties in getting Emigration check not required clearance, which the facility has been shifted to Mumbai from Goa. “ECNR has been removed for Goa. We have to travel to Mumbai. The South Goa MP should take up this issue and bring back ECNR. It was earlier in Goa,” he said.
In his address, South Goa MP Narendra Sawaikar said the issues facing the seafarers from Goa, especially problems relating to SSC qualification for Indian CDC, will be resolved within the next
8-10 days.
“I have submitted a letter to the Union Shipping Minister after Minister Vijai Sardesai called me up on the issue and I am optimistic that a solution will be worked out to provide relief to the seafarers,” the MP stated, while calling upon people to extend support to government.
