PANAJI
The Goa Legislative Assembly’s select committee, tasked with reviewing ‘The Goa Outdoor Advertisement (Regulations & Control) Bill, 2025’, held its first meeting on Wednesday.
During the meeting, members called for the bill to be re-drafted to better regulate outdoor advertisements, proposing that local governing bodies like panchayats and municipalities should have a role in overseeing them.
Committee Chairman Rohan Khaunte instructed all members, including MLA Vijai Sardesai, Carlos Ferreira, Jit Arolkar, and Nilesh Cabral, to submit their views and suggestions in writing for consideration.
Earlier, during the Budget Session, the state government introduced the bill, which proposed appointing the Entertainment Society of Goa (ESG) as the authority responsible for regulating and controlling the erection and placement of outdoor advertisements across the State.
The bill was drafted following a suo-motu order by the High Court of Bombay at Goa, which took note of the problem of haphazard and illegal outdoor advertisements. The bill proposes a ban on the erection or display of outdoor advertisements in No Development Zones (NDZ), protected areas, Khazan land, wetlands, and other ecologically and archaeologically sensitive areas.
Opposition parties raised serious concerns about flaws in the bill, leading to it being referred to the select committee for further review.
Khaunte said the members were asked to submit their views in writing for consideration, adding, “An Act has to be in place to regulate these activities.”
MLA Vijai Sardesai questioned the rationale behind bringing outdoor hoardings under the control of ESG. He criticised the government for introducing the bill without adequate consideration, pointing out that the court order was from 2007, and after 17 years, the government had only now decided to regulate the issue.
Sardesai also criticised the government for undermining the powers and revenue of local bodies by involving ESG in granting permissions.
MLA Carlos Ferreira stated that the opposition is willing to assist the government in drafting the bill if they are genuinely interested in regulating outdoor advertisements.
