MARGAO
Political commentator and city-based lawyer, Adv Radharao Gracias, on Wednesday, said the government’s move to increase the stamp and registration duties on land registration in Salcete will only enable big parties from outside the state to come and grab the land from the locals.
Highlighting the discrepancies in the government’s notification, Radharao said the land prices notified by the government have virtually increased the price of land by 3-4 times for the purpose of registration of sale deeds. "In my village, Majorda, the base price of land has been increased from Rs 4,000 to Rs 15,000, which is nearly a 400 per cent increase. This is a huge burden on the buyers as well as the sellers," he said.
Questioning the rationale behind effecting a huge hike in the land prices, he said this only goes to show that the government is least bothered about the common man. "This will only enable big parties to come to Goa and grab the land by paying four times more stamp and registration fees," he said.
What’s more, Radharao said that the government has given the benefit of the land rates to the builders in Margao and gone about taxing the people in Salcete’s countryside. "Margao has different types of land with FARs ranging from 100 to 250 and more. In my village, Majorda, the FAR is only 60, wherein people can build on only 600 square metres. This is done in a lopsided manner to help the big builder lobby."
Radharao has appealed to all political parties to take up the issue and force the government to rescind the notification and come out with reasonable land rates.
