RELEASE WHITE PAPERS ON MHADEI, COAL, 3 LINEAR PROJECTS, COVID & FINANCES OF GOA: KAMAT
PANAJI: The government in power must show guts to change its own decisions and respect people’s sentiments. There is no point in pointing fingures on others, when the party in power has all the avenues available to put things in order to protect the identity of Goa stated Leader of the Opposition Digambar Kamat.
Congress Party has always respected public sentiments and have always taken pro-active steps to protect identity of Goa. My letter as then CM dated 09/11/2009 to then Union Minister for Environment and Forest Jairam Ramesh makes Congress Party’s stand crystal clear on the Coal issue in Goa, Kamat said.
“I once again reiterate my demand that Chief Minister Dr Pramod Sawant must immediately release White Papers on Mhadei, Coal Handling and Transportation, Three Linear Projects passing through Wildlife Sanctuaries, COVID Pandemic and Finances of Goa. I once again demand that the government must call a full-fledged Assembly session to discuss on all the core Issues which are now facing opposition from across the State. Let people know the truth with facts and figures,” charged Kamat.
Congress government has always respected the sentiments of the Goans and has never tried to suppress the voice of the people. Our then Chief Minister Pratapsingh Rane scrapped the Regional Plan, SEZs were scrapped during my tenure. I respected parents’ sentiments on the Medium of Instruction issue, Kamat said.
Keeping in mind the long term vision for all round development of the State, we constituted the Goa Golden Jubilee Committee under chairmanship of noted scientist Dr Raghunath Mashelkar. The committee consisting of experts from various fields prepared Goa Vision-2035 document, unfortunately the BJP government which came to power in 2012 shelved the report. Goenche Daiz scheme initiated by me to help the small time traditional occupations like Khajekars, Kakonkars, Fulkars, Gold Artisans, Renders, Poders etc was also shelved by the government.
Today, after my continuous follow-up, the Chief Minister has now taken some steps to re-activate the Optic Fibre based Intranet Network facility for online education which had already reached every panchayat in Goa. Goa will always remain indebted to our then Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh who gifted the project to Goa, Kamat said.
The BJP is in power at the Centre as well as the State. Our then PM Dr. Manmohan Singh agreed to Goa’s request and constituted Mhadei Water Disputes Tribunal. Today, the Prime Minister is not ready to meet all-party delegation from Goa, This is unfortunate, Kamat said.