The gorgeous canopy of treesin the Campal precinct cast a shade over its glorious homes. But even thisancient foliage is struggling to keep the visible signs of ageing in thesehomes, hidden. The challenge, for most of the elderly residents of thesesplendid cottages and mansions, is to restore and repair their homes with everincreasing costs.
In 2004, in order tohelp heritage homeowners, the Government of Goa introduced the heritage housingscheme, through the Department of Tourism. The then Goa Government announced financial assistance to owners ofheritage houses in a bid to augment room capacity while also conservingheritage homes in the state. Besides financial aid, the government alsoincluded a technical team comprising a senior architect, conservationspecialist, structural engineer, design consultant and experts in folk art andregional art history. Then tourism Director Elvis Gomes had said, “This is aliberal scheme. Financial assistance will be given on a case-by-case basis andprovisions have been already made in the state’s annual Budget. Financialassistance will be in the form of loans, where the interest will not exceed 3to 4 per cent. A 25 per cent subsidy could also be given.” This was a petproject of the late Mathany Saldanha who was then tourism minister. Saldanhawanted to encourage heritage tourism. But, it evoked a very poor response.
The State Bank of India(SBI) was the only bank back then who formulated a special scheme for Heritagehomes. The scheme offered loans to homeowners for repair and renovation of oldhouses with low interest rates. However the bank withdrew the scheme in2008-2009. A Bank official said, “It was not viable for SBI to continue withthe scheme as there were no takers. We have to lend and make a profit tosurvive.”
According to ArmandoGonsalves, businessman and a heritage homeowner, “The bank would ask you tomortgage your house for an Rs.20 lakh loan. Why should one mortgage a Rs 20crore home for a measly Rs 20 lakh loan. Goan heritage owners are notcomfortable with this equation.” In addition Goans are sentimental about theirhomes and their privacy, he adds. A majority of Goan homes have multiple ownersfor the same house, making it difficult for documentation, Armando shares.
Swapnil Naik, Director,Department of Tourism agrees that there are no takers as the scheme in itspresent format. He said, “It is simply not attractive.” To make the schemeattractive, the department has reworked and made some modifications. However,the proposal is pending, awaiting approval of the finance department.
The new suggestions putforth to make the scheme viable, is to enhance the amount allotted per housefrom Rs 10 lakhs to a maximum of Rs 50 lakhs. “We have suggested that 50 percent of the amount should be a loan and 50 per cent subsidy. In addition wehave recommended that the interest on the loan be kept at 5-6 per cent,” sharesSwapnil. In the new format, the department of tourism has roped in the GoaState Cooperative Bank to disburse the loan amount sanctioned.
Armando who is known tohosts international Jazz artists at his home in Campal, is of the opinion thatinstead of keeping ancestral homes unused, people should open a part of theirhomes to house an art gallery, room stay, boutique etc. “Besides benefittingthe family financially, people will get to know about Goan heritage andculture”, he said.
