Goa CM Manohar Parrikar: Alemao supported fake degrees racket

Panaji: Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar Wednesday accused former PWD minister Churchill Alemao of patronising a fake degree racket, recently busted by police, saying the illegalities eroded the sanctity of the department.

“Alemao, during his tenure as PWD minister, was directing various candidates to this academy (which operated the racket), giving fake certificates before recruiting them as engineers in PWD department”, Parrikar said in his reply to a question on affairs of PWD Department in Legislative Assembly. The crime branch recently exposed the racket after raiding a private academy in Margao.

According to police, the racketeers used to provide bogus educational certificates, purportedly of various recognised universities, including the Board of Secondary Education, Gwalior.

“The bogus certificates were bought from this academy by candidates who have now become engineers”, Parrikar said, adding that the illegalities committed by Alemao has eroded the sanctity of PWD department. Alemao, a senior Congress leader was PWD minister in Digambar Kamat-led government.

SOURCE: PRESS TRUST OF INDIA

Goa Congress slams BJP for paying sacked miners

Panaji : The Goa Congress lashed out at the Manohar Parrikar-led government Tuesday for paying mining firm employees who had been sacked after the ban on mining in the state.

Leader of opposition in the state assembly Pratapsing Rane said that instead of doling out money, the government should ask the mining companies to re-hire the workers they have sacked.

“How long is the government going to give them money? These are employees of private organisations. Today it is the mining companies, tomorrow it will be some other private companies,” Rane told the assembly during a discussion on the motion of thanks to the Goa governor’s speech.

“We can take an assurance from the companies that they (employees) should be taken back at the same post they had,” Rane said.

Goa’s Governor B.V. Wanchoo in his speech Monday had announced that the state government was working out a financial package for people affected by the mining ban, through which each affected individual would receive about Rs.6,000 per month as dole until the mining impasse was resolved.

Four months ago, the Supreme Court enforced a mining ban in Goa after a judicial commission unearthed a Rs.35,000 crore illegal mining scam being carried out by an unscrupulous nexus comprising politicians, bureaucrats and mining companies.

SOURCE: IANS

 

Mining lobby attacks Goa Governor for ignoring their plight

Panaji: The mining lobby on Wednesday attacked Goa Governor Bharat Veer Wanchoo, calling him an “agent” of the Central government and accusing him of being callous to those affected by the ban on iron ore mining in Goa.

Lobbyists seeking revocation of the ban on iron ore mining in the state spoke to reporters after Wanchoo “snubbed” the pro-mining lobby protesters who have been camping near the Martyrs’ Memorial here for the last two weeks.

On Wednesday morning, the Governor and other leading political dignitaries, including Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar, arrived at the memorial in the capital to pay their tributes to Goa’s freedom fighters. However, the Governor returned to Raj Bhavan without speaking to protesters at the site.

“He did not have the courtesy to address us. We have been protesting here for the last two weeks. The Governor is not concerned about the sufferings of the people of his state,” Communist Party of India (CPI) state general secretary Christopher Fonseca told reporters here.

Fonseca heads the Goa Mining Affected People’s Front, which is protesting the loss of jobs caused by the Supreme Court-imposed mining ban. Fonseca also said that the Goa government was not taking convincing steps to resolve the mining crisis in the state.

“It has been four months since the ban has been in place. The government has not given a single convincing argument to the Supreme Court to ensure that the ban is removed,” Fonseca said.

Fonseca’s comments come only a couple of days after the Governor, in his inaugural address to the Goa Legislative Assembly, said that the Manohar Parrikar-led state government was working to introduce a financial package for people living in the mining belt, who had lost employment due to the mining ban.

The package involves giving out monthly dole to the tune of Rs 6,000 per head to those who have lost their mining jobs. The dole, however, has been criticised by the Opposition, which has said that instead of dishing out money, the state government should crack down on mining companies to ensure that workers are not laid off without any pressing reason.

SOURCE: IANS

 

Mopa Airport: Process begins for green signal to proposed airport at Mopa in Goa

PANAJI: The Union Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) has started the process of giving clearance to the proposed greenfield airport at Mopa in Goa, the state Assembly was informed today.

“The matter was discussed at the meeting of the Environment Ministry on January 28. There are further studies which are still required and they would be taken now,” Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar told the Assembly.

Independent legislator Vijay Sardesai had raised the issue of environment clearance to the airport at Mopa, about 70 km from here.

The MLA, who heads the movement involving locals against the airport, claimed that various preconditions suggested by International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) had been ignored by the Goa government which appears in a hurry to go ahead with the project.

“ICAO had suggested that a comprehensive strategy should be put in place before going ahead with the project as another airport already exists in the state,” Sardesai said.

The Chief Minister, quoting an ICAO report published in 2007, said there was a need to have two airports in Goa as the existing one at Dabolim would get saturated due to increasing flow of passenger traffic in the tourist state.

Parrikar rejected the notion that Mopa airport would benefit Maharashtra, more than Goa, due to its close proximity with the neighbouring state.

“The airport is 25 kms away from Maharashtra border,” he said and requested the Assembly Speaker to allow half an hour debate on the issue so that “Goa Government’s stand on the issue can be clarified”.

SOURCE: THE ECONOMIC TIMES

Vijai Sardesai: Khazan land bill is a scam

MARGAO: Independent MLA Vijai Sardesai launched yet another salvo at chief minister Manohar Parrikar; this time over the government’s handling of the draft ‘Goa Khazan Land Development Board Act, 2012’.

Sardesai has promised to not only raise this issue in the upcoming assembly session amongst other key issues, he also stated that the ‘government would be put on the mat’ by coordinating with other members of the opposition who are working on a strategy to ‘target and quiz’ the BJP-led government.

Stating that he had been asked to reply to the draft bill in his capacity as an MLA by the chief engineer of the water resources department within 15 days of it being sent to him, Sardesai, while addressing media persons on Saturday, said that he had conveyed his detailed reservations in a letter to the chief minister.

“The draft bill is nothing but the foundation of a land scam that will finish of Goa’s khazan lands and I want to know why lands are required to be acquired to stop illegal breaching of bunds. It is a question all Goans need to ask the government,” he said.

The Fatorda MLA pointed out that there are laws in place to protect khazan lands and it only needs proper implementation. He concurred that khazan lands are the last bastions of the comunidades and the gaunkari system followed in Goa.

SOURCE: THE TIMES OF INDIA

Mopa airport: Govt moves to acquire land in 3 villages

PANAJI: The government on Thursday invoked Section 6 of the Land Acquisition Act to acquire 22,63,185 sq m of land for the proposed Mopa airport in three villages of Chandel, Casarvarnem and Varcond in Pernem taluka.

While the government had initially proposed to acquire 74.99 lakh sq m of land in six villages, only about 48.70 lakh sq m of land had been taken in possession in four villages.

The 22,63,185 sq m now sought to be acquired was earlier left out from the acquisition proceedings because residents of Pernem petitioned the Bombay high court at Goa challenging the land acquisition.

In its judgment, the high court directed the government to hear out the petitioners once again and to go ahead with the land acquisition. Official sources said that the high court took cognizance of the fact that the land acquisition was genuinely for a public purpose. Since the petitioners are also aggrieved over the terms of the land acquisition, the chief minister has also publicly declared the government’s intentions of coming out with a new land acquisition policy where the compensations are much higher than before.

Official sources said that once the new land acquisition policy is declared, the petitioners’ grievances will be addressed. As of now, the state government has already taken possession of about 65% of the land required for the construction of the proposed Mopa airport in the four Pernem villages of Mopa (23,64,065 sq m), Casarvarnem (7,75,916 sq m), Chandel (3,37,265 sq m) and Uguem (4,50,935 sq m).

The government has also passed the awards to the affected persons.

The award for four villages totals 29.64 crore so far. The break-up of the award amount is as follows; Mopa ( 14,01,89,277), Chandel ( 5,18,15,510), Casarvarnem ( 7,00,06,376) and Uguem ( 3,44,11,141).

 

SOURCE: THE TIMES OF INDIA