PANAJI
Independent MLA from Sanguem Prasad Gaonkar on Thursday accused Chief Minister Pramod Sawant of hoodwinking the state legislative assembly over allocation of a land parcel from the 14 lakh sq.mts area which houses the Sanjivani sugar factory. He also said that just like in Melaulim, shady land acquisition procedures were being adopted to allocate land to the University.
Addressing a press conference in Panaji, Gaonkar said that while Sawant on Tuesday, told the legislative assembly that only two lakh sq. mts land belonging to the Agriculture department was being allocated to the Gujarat-based National Forensic Science University to set up a campus, government correspondence suggested that four lakh sq. mts land was being hived off from the factory's land bank.
"The Chief Minister told the House on Tuesday, that two lakh sq. mts land originally belonging to the factory was being allotted to set up the university. How can two lakh become four lakh in a matter of a day?" Gaonkar, said pointing to a letter dated October 20, from the local Deputy Collector to the Director of Agriculture seeking four lakh sq. mts of land.
"The CM says 2 lakh, but a letter to the Director of Agriculture by the Deputy Collector says 4 lakh sq mts is required. This government is lying," Gaonkar said.
He also said that the local farmers and farmers' associations were not taken into confidence while taking the decision to allocate the land parcel to the University, quoting the recent controversy in Melaulim, where local residents were not taken into confidence by the government before attempting to hand over a large landbank to the Indian Institute of Technology.
"The government is messing up with land acquisition processes once again. It possesses land without taking any one in confidence like the case in Melaulim," Gaonkar said.
"It is important to take farmers and associations into confidence and to take cabinet approval before such a decision is taken. The foundation stone for the University project has been laid even without proper paperwork," he also said. Union Home Minister Amit Shah had laid the foundation stone for the University project last week.
