State Govt kept in the dark over monument privatisation: Vijai

PANAJI: State government was kept in the dark over the inclusion of several Goa’s heritage monuments central government’s ‘Adopt a Heritage Scheme’ State Minister for Archives and Archaeology Vijai Sardesai has said.
Sardesai, while speaking to reporters, has said that they will convene a meeting of several stakeholders to decide on the issue.
“The Government of Goa is completely in the dark about this and it is a religious place of huge importance. The relics of St Francis Xavier are preserved there, so it is not only a place of cultural importance but it is of religious importance also,” Sardesai began.
“The Minister of Tourism, myself as the Minister of Archives, the local MLA, the parish priest of the Cathedral, the Rector of the Bom Jesus Basilica, a representative of the Diocese, the Chief Secretary and the ASI will meet immediately, may be coming Monday so that we should be very clear what this scheme is all about,” Sardesai told reporters in the presence of Tourism Minister Manohar “Babu” Ajgaonkar.
“The experience with Delhi has been that they come with a small thing and they take over your whole asset. Old Goa is an asset of the state and the Church has to be taken into confidence,” Vijai said.
Vijai’s decision comes a day after there were mixed reactions to the news that the several of Goa’s monuments, some of them improperly maintained, were up for grabs to be maintained by private parties under the adopt a monument scheme of the central government.
Adv Francisco de Bragança a former president of the Travel and Tourism Association of Goa, opined that while he had some reservations over the adoption of religious monuments, the adoption of other historic monuments like forts would only be a good move by the government as it would help them be better maintained.
“We need to distinguish between religious monuments from the non-religious historical monuments. We need to tread carefully as regards religious monuments and adopt a consultative approach in respect of religious monuments,” Bragança said.
“We have seen what was the condition of the Reis Magos Fort when it was under the Department of Archives. It was crumbling all over and if not for timely action by the Helen Hamlyn Trust through the intervention of INTACH it would have fallen into ruins. On account of the financial support from Lady Helen Hamlyn Trust, we now see a vibrant monument which has come to life again. There was opposition when it was being done. But once done everyone is appreciative of the result,” Bragança had said.