MARGAO
The Mhaje Ghar scheme has come in handy for Chief Minister Pramod Sawant, allowing him to take the political battle into the opposition camp ahead of the upcoming Zilla Panchayat and Municipal elections.
By positioning the BJP as the saviour of the common man’s homes and portraying the opposition as villains intent on demolishing them, the Chief Minister has sought to set a powerful narrative in the run-up to the polls.
Sawant went a step further, describing the Mhaje Ghar initiative as a major land reform, on par with the Tenancy and Mundcar laws championed by Goa’s first Chief Minister Dayanand Bandodkar and former Chief Minister Ravi Naik. The scheme may look simple, but it is a major land reform carried out by the government under the Land Revenue Code, besides the Panchayat and Municipalities laws.
Launching the scheme in the Salcete taluka constituencies on Wednesday at Ravindra Bhavan, Margao, the Chief Minister accused opposition MLAs of obstructing the programme in the Assembly.
“Those who opposed the scheme in the Assembly ” ask them when they come to your homes why they did not support it,” he urged the gathering.
Sawant recounted that the opposition had raised objections when the scheme was being discussed late at night. “When the debate was held around 11 p.m., the opposition began protesting. I appealed to them to hear me out, as the government was prepared to address their concerns ” but they chose to tear the documents instead,” he said.
Seeking to further rally public opinion against the opposition, Sawant questioned their motives: “Why should the opposition be upset if the houses of the common man are being regularised? They live in bungalows and are big landlords. They have no need for the Mhaje Ghar scheme ” but the people do,” he asserted.
He added, “This scheme makes no difference to those opposing it ” they are landlords living comfortably in their bungalows. Mhaje Ghar is designed for the ordinary Goan, for the common man.”
He further told the people to teach those opposing the scheme a lesson. “Those who have filed the cases have been instigated by people inside the Assembly and outside. These people are instigating others to file cases. Will you teach these people a lesson? Yes, you have to,” the Chief Minister added.
CM’s plea to comunidade bodies to regularise illegal structures
Even as the Chief Minister made a fervent plea to the Comunidade bodies to regularise the illegal houses, he also questioned the Comunidade bodies for their failure to stop the illegal structures that had come up on the Comunidade land.
In fact, the Chief Minister urged the MLAs to approach the local Comunidade bodies to regularise the houses of the people via the Mhaje Ghar scheme.
He further said that people must have paid money to the Comunidade representatives to erect the houses in the past, but they will have to pay the money to the Comunidade under the Mhaje Ghar scheme.
Saying his government is concerned about the people of Goa, the Chief Minister said the scheme will not discriminate between people of religious or caste denominations. “We will regularise and legalise the houses of all citizens irrespective of their caste or creed,” he added.
“In the past, you must have paid money and the Comunidade representatives must have accepted the money. But the people will now be required to pay the fees,” he said, while making a fervent plea to the Comunidade bodies to regularise the houses.
Promising all-out government support to the people to get their houses regularised, the Chief Minister also sought support and cooperation for the government. He concluded his address with chants of Bharat Mata ki Jai, Vande Mataram, etc.
CM blames activists behind demolition exercise in Saligao
Blaming activists behind the Saligao demolition exercise, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant came under the lens as the upholder of law when he blamed activists behind the Saligao demolition exercise, categorically saying his government had no intention to demolish any house.
He said the government had to face the brickbats for demolishing the houses at Saligao when it had no intention to do so. “People think that the government is behind the demolition just because the demolition exercise is carried out by the Deputy Collector, police and the PWD. In reality, the government does not have the intention to break someone’s houses. In the case of Saligao, the activists are responsible for the demolition,” he said.
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Low turnout at scheme launch sparks questions over support
MARGAO: Many an eyebrow was raised during the launching of the Mhaje Ghar scheme by Chief Minister Pramod Sawant at the Ravindra Bhavan, Margao, for the four constituencies of Margao, Fatorda, Navelim and Curtorim.
Ravindra Bhavan’s seating capacity is pegged at 1000-plus seats, but the auditorium was not packed to capacity, considering that there are hundreds of illegal houses on the Comunidade properties in Margao, Aquem-Davorlim and other areas in these four constituencies.
Indeed, call it a strategic move or otherwise, the familiar faces from Moti Dongor and other areas were conspicuous by their absence. It isn’t clear whether the migrants inhabiting Moti Dongor and other areas in the jurisdiction of Margao and Aquem Comunidade bodies deliberately skipped the Mhaje Ghar launch to avoid giving an impression that only the migrants would benefit from the scheme.
Questions are raised whether the inhabitants of Moti Dongor skipped the Mhaje Ghar launch after being assured and promised by the powers that be that they would be rehabilitated by the government via a rehabilitation package after acquisition of the land in question.
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Can’t regularise illegal homes of migrants: Comunidade attorney
MARGAO: Rejecting Chief Minister Pramod Sawant’s plea to the Comunidade bodies to regularise the illegal structures on the Comunidade lands under the Mhaje Ghar scheme, the Attorney of Margao and Aquem Comunidades Celestin Norohna has said there is no question of the Comunidades giving away the land, saying those inhabiting Moti Dongor are all migrants and not Goans.
Further saying the Mhaje Ghar scheme is a scheme unveiled by the BJP government, Norohna said the scheme is not at all related to the Comunidade bodies.
“We are not going to allow the illegal structures to take legal shape. One has to bear in mind that those who are staying at Moti Dongor are not Goans, but they are all migrants,” he said.
To a question, Norohna said the matter pertaining to the illegal houses on the Aquem Comunidade land at Moti Dongor is already pending in the High Court for the last 12 years after the Administrator of Comunidades had issued the illegal houses demolition orders.
To another question, the Aquem Comunidade Attorney said many Comunidade bodies have already challenged the Mhaje Ghar scheme in the High Court and the matter is scheduled to come up for hearing on November 17.
