Chief Minister Pramod Sawant has been personally touring various constituencies and distributing forms for the ‘Mhaje Ghar’ scheme to beneficiaries whose houses are built illegally on communidade land. With the Zilla Panchayat and Municipal elections approaching, the move appears aimed at projecting the BJP as the protector of the common man’s homes while painting the opposition as those wanting to demolish them.
Sawant seems to have introduced this tricky scheme mainly to sell false dreams and secure votes ” not only from some poor and unsuspecting Goans but also from neighbouring migrant settlers ahead of the upcoming Zilla Panchayat, Municipal, and Assembly elections in Goa.
It’s worth recalling that his party had earlier promised three free gas cylinders a year to domestic consumers in its election manifesto during the last Assembly elections. In 2021, Sawant had also announced 16,000 litres of free tap water per household. Though the scheme was implemented for some time, his government later withdrew it in May 2025.
Sawant is known for making big announcements during election time to boost his popularity, but most of them fade away once the polls are over. How can he even think of legalising illegal houses, especially those of non-Goan migrants, when the Supreme Court has ordered the demolition of all such illegal constructions, and when most communidade bodies have already taken the matter to the High Court, where it remains pending?
It seems likely that the much-hyped ‘Mhaje Ghar’ scheme will eventually become another unfulfilled promise. After spending money on notarising old land documents, many may find that it leads nowhere. Those now celebrating and dancing with the forms in hand may soon realise they’ve been fooled by the Sawant-led BJP government ” yet again.
