PANAJI
In a rare achievement for the outnumbered Opposition, the government was compelled to refer to a select committee a bill it had moved to amend the law governing the Investment Promotion Board to give it wide powers over panchayats and municipalities besides the powers to act as the authority for all other laws including land laws.
The Goa Investment Promotion and Facilitation of Single Window Clearance (Amendment) Bill, 2024 was introduced in the Assembly on Monday by Industries Minister Mauvin Godinho and was slated for consideration and passage on Wednesday.
However, since Godinho was indisposed, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant stepped in his shoes but faced stiff resistance from a spirited Opposition to several clauses of the bill, particularly the one which sought to create a Planning, Development and Construction Committee of the IPB headed by the Chief Secretary with sweeping powers over and above all other statutory authorities and any State law, including the TCP Act, Land Revenue Code and other land laws.
The Opposition including its leader Yuri Alemao, Venzy Viegas, Vijai Sardesai and Carlos Alvares Ferreira, all termed this committee as a ‘super government’ which would gobble the powers of panchayats and municipalities while also opening the floodgates for indiscriminate change of land-use zoning of eco-sensitive zones in the name of investment promotion and job creation.
All the Opposition members demanded that this bill should not be passed in haste and be sent for consideration and review of a select committee as it would cause much damage while also creating unrest among local bodies including the panchayats, municipalities and the people living in those areas.
Sensing the mood of the Opposition MLAs and taking note of the objective reservations they had over the provisions included in the bill, Sawant responded positively to the stiff objections raised by the Opposition legislators. Sawant said the government had no objection to refer the bill to a select committee.
He however stated that the intention of the government was not to convert land for industrial purposes or deprive local bodies of their powers but to ensure that industry and investment is facilitated in the State.
The House then constituted a select committee with the Industries Minister as chairperson and comprising of Vijai Sardesai, Carlos Alvares Ferreira, Venzy Viegas, Viresh Borkar, Ganesh Gaonkar, Aleixo Reginald Lourenco and Daji Salkar.
