PANAJI
The controversial Goa Bhumiputra Adhikarini Bill 2021 cannot be implemented until changes are made to the Code of the Comunidade, Goa Forward party working president Kiran Kandolkar said on Tuesday, while slamming the Chief Minister Pramod Sawant-led coalition government for “bulldozing” the legislation through, with an eye on the upcoming assembly elections.
Addressing a press conference in Panaji, the top brass of the opposition party, specifically Goa Forward general secretary Mohandas Lolienkar in a personal attack on the Chief Minister, said that the bill perhaps would fulfill Pramod Sawant’s desire of becoming a bhumiputra, in wake of his “Sawantwadi” origins.
“Pramod Sawant’s officers should know that Goa has a comunidade and under the Code of Comunidade, no one can buy Comunidade land. Even the government cannot purchase comunidade land,” Kandolkar told a press conference, adding that his party would oppose the legislation tooth and nail and stand with the people of the State against it.
“They will have to first change the Code of Comunidade. Only after this is done that such a law can be formulated. I don’t know how persons who have been in Goa for 30 years can be called bhumiputras... People have been here before the Portuguese came to Goa. Who are they then? People who have traditionally lived here, what will they be referred to as by the Pramod Sawant government?” he asked, adding that the bill was bad in law.
Kandolkar also said that Sawant had committed a murder of democracy by “bulldozing” the legislation without discussion and sought to remind the Chief Minister how his predecessor late Manohar Parrikar had opted to send a similar bill in 2014, which aimed at regularising illegal houses, to a Select Committee of the state assembly, following suggestions made by the Opposition.
“The bill was sent to the Select Committee to rectify issues in it. In 2016, the bill was finally rectified and implemented,” Kandolkar said, adding that 10,000 forms seeking regularisation of households were still pending with the government.
Party general secretary Mohandas Lolienkar, who was also present at the press conference, sought to target Chief Minister Pramod Sawant personally over the issue, especially over the legislation’s mandatory 30 year domicile clause for being classified as a bhumiputra. “We will have to see if Pramod Sawant came to Goa 30 years ago. Is that why the qualifying category is 30 years? This is something which needs to be examined. We will have to see which year Pramod came to Goa,” Lolienkar said.
