MARGAO
Chief Minister Pramod Sawant on Monday said the government has come out with the Mhaje Ghar scheme only after conducting a thorough legal study.
He was replying to a query from scribes on the recent Supreme Court judgement wherein it was held that tenants cannot become owners of land.
“I have not studied the Supreme Court judgement. I will seek legal opinion on the apex court's ruling. Only after seeking legal advice will I make a statement,” he said.
The Chief Minister, however, said the government has introduced the Mhaje ghar scheme only after proper legal study. “Some people have filed cases before the High Court. We are fighting the cases and are 100 per cent confident that the scheme will have absolutely no problem,” he said.
The Chief Minister visited the BJP South Goa district office as part of his ongoing Janata darbar exercise across the state.
BJP workers and people from both South Goa and Kushavati district approached the Chief Minister with their grievances.
The Chief Minister later told the media that most of the issues brought before him by the people were related to houses, including Mhaje ghar. “We have tried to resolve the issues by issuing necessary instructions to the authorities, including the Collector and mamlatdars,” he said.
PWD Minister Digambar Kamat, BJP State president Damu Naik, BJP MLAs Nilesh Cabral and Ulhas Tuenkar, besides South Goa ZP Chairperson Sidharth Gauns Desai, attended the dharbar.
When the media drew attention to the agitation by the residents of Karapur at Jantar Mantar, Delhi, since they could not get justice from the government, the Chief Minister said the issue was being handled by the Panchayat and the courts. “The Panchayat will act in the matter. The rest is in the court,” he added.
The Chief Minister said the government would come out with a policy for the rehabilitation of slums since there are hardly any slums notified under the Slums Act.
He made the statement after the media asked whether the government has drawn up any plan for the rehabilitation of slums in the state. “Only a few slums, maybe one or two, are notified under the Act. Hence, the government will come out with a policy for the rehabilitation of slums,” he added.
