PANAJI
Even as Chief Minister Pramod Sawant and Law Minister Nilesh Cabral informed that the Person of Goan Origin (POGO) bill could not be tabled in the Assembly due to it being termed unconstitutional by the law department, St Andre MLA & Revolutionary Goans Party president Viresh Borkar has said that the POGO bill is very much alive and not done and dusted as many would like to believe.
Speaking to The Goan, Borkar informed that whatever happened in the Assembly had nothing to do with the POGO bill as the discussion on the Appropriation bill was going on.
“CM Sawant and Cabral themselves raised the issue of POGO and started giving speeches, and Cabral then said the bill cannot be tabled due to law department terming it unconstitutional,” Borkar informed.
“The law department can only give an opinion on the bill and cannot decide whether it can be tabled or not. The decision on tabling the bill lies with the Speaker and that has not happened. So, one cannot say that the bill is done and dusted. It is very much alive and we will make fresh attempts to get it tabled in the Assembly in the future,” he added.
On the law department terming the bill unconstitutional, Borkar said he was not sure on what grounds it is called unconstitutional as he has yet to receive any written communication in this regard.
“Once a written communication is received, only then will we be able to analyse and chalk out the future course of action,” the MLA informed.
When questioned whether the RGP will seek the support of constitutional experts on the issue, Borkar replied, “We have to know what flaws have been detected in the bill as everything has been said orally. Once we get the details, we will seek the help of constitutional experts and redraft the bill, if needed,” he stated.
Borkar said he was happy that the POGO bill issue was raised on the last day of the Assembly as it clearly showed who is in favour of Goans and who is against.
“The fiasco showed that the government is favouring the Bhumiputras as they did not find anything unconstitutional in the Bhumiputra bill while finding fault in the POGO bill which is the need of the hour for protecting the rights of Goans,” he said.
“The government is trying to destroy what was preserved by our forefathers i.e. our culture, identity, heritage. They want to finish Goa and Goans. What has happened in Mumbai will happen in Goa and the Goans will become marginalised in their land,” Borkar opined.
“The government wants to gift our comunidade land to those who have encroached upon it, they are allowing dual voting cards to increase their vote-bank, they are allowing migrants to take our identity,” he added.
“Since the government has a majority, they are taking advantage. But we will try to push for the tabling of the POGO bill. And if we are not able to do so during this tenure, we will ensure that the RGP gets a clear majority in the next tenure, and we will get the POGO bill passed,” Borkar said.
