the goan I network
PANAJI
After days of putting up a brave front with statements that the controversial Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the related National Register of Citizens (NRC) will have no impact on Goans, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant has now said NRC may not be required at all in the State. Sawant said that Goans, including those who have opted for the Portuguese passport, should not fear the CAA.
“Even before the CAA there were procedures for those with Portuguese passports to renounce them and reclaim citizenship. They will continue to have that procedure,” Sawant said when confronted by journalists on the sidelines of a Christmas event at Parra late Sunday evening.
To another question on whether NRC will be implemented in Goa, Sawant said it may “not be required at all”. Goa’s legal professionals are of the firm opinion that the CAA and NCR regimes could put in a spot of bother the thousands of Goans who have opted to hold Portuguese passports in their quest for better livelihood options in European countries when they decide to retire to the native State.
Sawant made the comments when a journalist drew
his attention to a notification issued by the State government back in August, and followup notifications in November and as recently as last week on December 16, related to implementation of the National Population Register (NPR) exercise.
The NPR work is seen in some knowledgeable quarters as a prelude to bringing in the NRC regime. According to the notifications, the NPR exercise is slated to commence in Goa by April 2020.
Sawant however said he was unaware of the notifications and will make a studied
|statement on the NPR issue after going through the notifications.
“I am not making any statement... I will go through the new notification and then I will make a statement,” Sawant said.
Sawant and the ruling BJP’s ideologue Narendra Sawaikar have spent a good part of the last week trying to dispel the growing apprehensions among Goans over the twin legislations.
