VASCO
With two police stations and a police outpost covering portions of the Verna Industrial Estate, confusion has prevailed among industries as owners have faced difficulties over police verification and other issues.
Consider the plight of one particular unit in Verna. Half of the unit is under the Verna police station, while the other half is under the jurisdiction of the Maina-Curtorim police station, which is at Margao.
“The government should try and resolve this unusual issue once and for all, as it is not practical for the industry stakeholders to make the rounds of three different locations -- Verna police station, the Maina-Curtorim police station and the Cortalim police outpost,” Verna Industries Association (VIA) President Damodar Kochkar told the Goan.
“We have been following up this issue with the government for the last four-five years, demanding a dedicated police station for the entire industrial estate. The VIA had demand that the entire estate be under the jurisdiction of any one police station, preferably the Verna police station, as it is closer to the estate.”
Kochkar informed that it has become extremely difficult and confusing to get police verification done for labourers engaged in industrial units, due to the different police jurisdictions.
“As an industry, we engage several labourers sometimes from other states and the police verification of every labourer is mandatory. It is not practical for us to travel to three different police stations to get this done.”
Kochkar claimed that in case of any need, they have to rush either to the police station at Verna or the Maina-Curtorim police station at Margao.
“In one instance, a particular unit in Verna has half of its premises under the jurisdiction of Verna police station and the other half under the jurisdiction of Maina-Curtorim police station.”
“We believe a police outpost for the industry is on the card and awaits notification,” said Kochkar.
