the goan I network
MARGAO
“It’s not Mission Salcete”, but pure “Salcete development”, asserted Chief Minister Pramod Sawant as he hopped from one Salcete village to another during the weekend in the minority-dominated taluka.
If the Chief Minister and his Cabinet colleagues descended at Raia in Curtorim to partake in the 50th birthday celebrations of Congress MLA Reginaldo Lourenco on Saturday, Pramod Sawant returned to neighbouring Nuvem on Sunday with Congress-turned-BJP MLA Wilfred D’Sa to give his stamp of approval for developmental projects in the constituency.
The Chief Minister, however, made it clear that his presence in Salcete is not part of Mission Salcete undertaken by his predecessor late Manohar Parrikar. In fact, when the media sought to know from the Chief Minister whether his repeated presence in Salcete is part of taking forward Manohar Parrikar’s legacy in reaching out to the minorities in Salcete taluka, Pramod said “we have decided to carry forward Bhai’s legacy, whether on the development front or otherwise. We make no distinction
between North and South Goa or between Bicholim or Salcete. Parrikar’s work in Salcete has helped the party to reach out to the people”.
“Parrikar may have termed his initiative in Salcete as
Mission Salcete, but I would prefer to call my visit to the minority taluka as Salcete development. The BJP will take up development in all the constituencies in Salcete. People of Salcete, including the MLAs, Sarpanchas and Panchas approach us for their development work and we will take up as much development in Salcete in the next two years and half,” said the Chief Minister.
This is the second time in the last six months that the Chief Minister has refused to term his presence as Mission Salcete. The first during the Lok Sabha election when the Chief Minister had made it clear there’s not going to be any specific Mission Salcete to woo the minority voters in favour of party sitting MP Narendra Sawaikar.
During his visit to Nuvem on Sunday at the invitation of MLA Wilfred D’Sa, the Chief Minister promised to take up a host of developmental works in the constituency. The Chief Minister interacted with the Nuvem Parish Priest Fr Victor Rodrigues as the latter made a request to the government to help extend the school building to play host to the higher secondary school.
The Chief Minister promised to consider the Parish Priest request and also the request to expand the cemetery and also regulate the Nuvem traffic junction.
The Chief Minister preferred to walk to the Nuvem Panchayat ghar from the Church area right down to the Nuvem traffic junction near the Activa Honda showroom along with Wilfred to understand the problems relating to the panchayat ghar repairs and the traffic situation at the junction.
The Chief Minister later descended at Verna, where farmers and other citizens had been patiently waiting for him with their grievances, before heading home in the evening. CM says Finance Dept is studying
proposal for 50 pc cut on road tax
MARGAO: With the promised 50 per cent reduction in the road tax on vehicles purchased during the next three months still confined to the papers, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant on Sunday said the Finance department is presently examining the announcement made by Transport Mauvind Godinho in the matter.
When the media drew his attention to the statement made by the Transport Minister proposing a 50 per cent road tax cut on vehicles, the Chief Minister said the Finance department is verifying the proposal.
“The Finance department is ascertaining the amount of financial burden the state will have to face on account of the road tax cut by 50 per cent. The department is studying how much revenue the exchequer was earning by way of road tax and the difference that it will have to face in the event of a 50 per cent reduction,” he said.
