Captured by : Almeida accuses previous Congress govt of notifying "Sambhaji"
VASCO: Confirming that the previous government had approved the addition of “Sambhaji” to Vasco-Da-Gama, Vasco MLA Carlos Almeida on Friday sought to deflect the blame game on the Congress by claiming that a notification to the affect had been issued in a gazette dated March 17, 2011.
Briefing media persons along with Mormugao Municipal Chairperson (MMC) Deepak Naik, Almeida said the citizens of Vasco are blaming his government, and him in particular, for adding “Sambhaji” to Vasco-Da-Gama on new ration cards issued by the Civil Supplies department.
Showing media persons a copy of the gazette to the media, Almeida alleged that the gazette was signed by then revenue minister Jose Philip D’Souza, who is, incidentally, his political opponent in Vasco.
Almeida, who was also armed with an old and new ration card, added that the address on the old ration cards was handwritten, while the new ration cards were digitized.
“On inquiry, I found out that Sambhaji was approved through an official government gazette dated March 17, 2011. Sambhaji was printed, based on the notification which comes under the then revenue minister Jose Philip D’Souza.”
“D’Souza might have signed the gazette in a hurry and I do not blame him, as he was busy clearing files pertaining to kerosene,” said a sarcastic Almeida.
“The social media has been accusing me that I have changed the name and I want to bring to the notice of general public that Sambhaji was added through the notification passed by the earlier government and not by the BJP or me,” clarified Almeida.
“I do not want to rake up old issues and I have urged Chief Minister Laxmikant Parcekar to remove Sambhaji from new ration cards, which he has agreed to do so.”
When asked whether he would ask Parsekar to withdraw the March 17, 2011, notification, Almeida said he will first seek a clarification in the matter and then take necessary action.
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NOTIFICATION
OF LIKNKING
CAME IN 1971!
PANAJI: While it may surprise most people, it has come to light that the linking of Sambhaji and Vasco-da-Gama dates back to 1971.
As a requirement under the sub-Section 1 of Section 3 of the Goa Land Revenue Code, 1968, the government of Goa constituted the State of Goa into districts, sub-divisions, talukas and villages through its official gazette dated February 18, 1971.
The said gazette carried the government notification dated February 15, 1971, whereby, Vasco-da-Gama is clearly listed with the prefix ‘Sambhaji’.
Incidentally, the official gazette of the State government dated March 17, 2011 re-notified the 1971 notification without any ado about the word ‘Sambhaji’.
Speaking on conditions of anonymity, officials from the department of civil supplies stated that owing to the recent launch of the National Food Security Act in Goa, they were prompted to digitize all the records. “Digitization requires standardization of official terms and word usages. We went according to the latest official gazette in following the procedure,” it was said.
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I DID NOT SIGN
NOTIFICATION,
SAYS JOSE PHILIP
>> See pg 4
