The Chief Minister, Mr Digambar Kamat has said that he would hold talks with a delegation of Goa Bachao Abhiyan tomorrow to listen to their views and demands with regard to the preparation of a new Regional Plan for the state.
Saying that Congress party has taken a clear stand on the preparation of new Regional Plan, which was mentioned in the party manifesto for the just concluded assembly elections, Mr Kamat went on to add that all stake holders would be taken into confidence while preparing the new plan.
Addressing a press conference at the old secretariat this afternoon, the Chief Minister further said that he would also talk to other non-government organisations that were in the forefront of agitation against the now scrapped Regional Plan 2011 and listen to their views on the matter.
He said that the new regional plan would be prepared as envisaged in the Congress manifesto by taking views of all stakeholders, so as to prevent discrepancies from creeping into it.
The Chief Minister also said that his government has taken serious note of the recent sand erosion on the beaches in the state and has decided to appoint a committee, headed by the director of National Institute of Oceanography to study the causes and prepare a plan of action to prevent such occurrences in future. He described the soil erosion phenomenon as alarming which needed to the tackled on a priority.
Regarding deaths due to drowning in abandoned stone quarries, the Chief Minister said that officers of the state administration have been asked to identify them and that the persons who were operating them would be directed to fill them up so as to prevent any mishaps in the future.
Replying to a question on the outcome of talks between Union Water Resources Minister, Mr Saifuddin Soz and Karnataka government officials, Mr Kamat said that he had directed them to stop the work. He also said that Mr Soz has assured that an affidavit would be filed in the Supreme Court, giving its say on the matter.
“We will appoint best lawyer in the country to defend our case in the apex court,” he said in reply to a query from reporters.
He said that his administration had delivered to the people, which could be seen from the action taken by officials after the incessant rains damaged property and caused general havoc in the state. He also said that this was possible due to right steps taken by his government in setting up a mechanism to deal with such exigencies.
The Chief Minister went on to add that aid to affected people was released within 48 hours and that Rs 1.10 lakh were disbursed to the 29 families in North Goa while in South Goa 51 families were disbursed Rs 1.46 lakh as relief amount. This is for the first time that the relief has been sanctioned so fast in the state.
Mr Kamat further said that his government has taken note of the recent suicide of a family in Pernem taluka and that it would put an amount of Rs 1 lakh as fix deposit in the name of surviving minor boy.
He said that government would take care of the boy if his relatives were not in a position to care for him even as he went on to add that officials have been directed to find if such cases existed in the state and stated that if need be a scheme would be formulated to help families in distress.
He said that he would meet people from North Goa every Monday at the old secretariat from 11 a.m to 1.30 p.m and people from South Goa on every Tuesday at the South Goa collectorate from 11 a.m to 1.30 p.m. He also would that he intended to install a box at the old secretariat to allow people to give their suggestion or put forth their grievances.
Besides, he would meet Congress workers at Congress House on every first Saturday of the month and every last Saturday of the month he would visit taluka headquarters to hear public grievances, in his endeavour to provide common man friendly governance.
As regards to delay in expansion of his cabinet and allocation of portfolios, Mr Kamat said that the “extraordinary” delay was due to pre-occupation of national leaders of the Congress party with the presidential elections, even as he went on to add that this situation was prevalent in all states and that it was not restricted to Congress party alone.
-Navhind Times, Goa Daily
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[...] developments are also linked to the controversial Goa Regional Plan, which has been the subject of bitter political [...]