RP 21 corrections via plebiscite - Herald

RP 21 corrections via plebiscite PANJIM: The Regional Plan 2021 will be corrected through a plebiscite rather than just Gram Sabha resolutions, because Gram Sabhas can often be compromised through vested interests, Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar said. Speaking during the motion on Special Status which he moved in the house on Monday, Parrikar said that corruption at the grassroots was an inherent problem that had to be defeated. “For long, I was breaking my head over how to go about correcting the Gram Sabha. Then I realised that each village should have a plebiscite, where each individual in the village will be asked for his opinion on how much development the village should require. This is a greater Gram Sabha and is better than Gram Sabhas that are attended by only 40 to 50 people,” Parrikar said. He said that it was a Swedish model of democracy that he would try to put in practice in Goa. Elaborating on his statements of corruption in Gram Sabhas, Parrikar said that there were some cases where Gram Sabha members came to blows and others flung chairs at each other. “When money is at stake then it is those people’s interests that take charge at the Gram Sabha,” Parrikar claimed. The chief minister reiterated his statement that the Gram Sabhas were only recommendatory bodies and that he was speaking from the legal point of view. He said that mega projects come in villages with the blessing of the Sarpanch and the local Panch, because unless the project is passed by the panchayat the project cannot go ahead and that several Sarpanchas were corrupt. Parrikar also said that the sale of land in villages had begun only recently and more so in Salcete because a certain politician was grabbing land of hapless citizens who had gone abroad for work. “Sale of land in villages is more in Salcete, more so because of the people have migrated abroad. Earlier even people who had migrated abroad would not sell their land. However, it started with a certain politician from Salcete who used to allow his stooges to grab lands of those residing abroad, due to which those who were abroad began to sell their lands quickly. Within 10 years everybody who was abroad sold their land,” Parrikar said adding that inherited assets should not be liquidated. Earlier, Mauvin Godinho said that the root reason behind the agitation against the Regional Plan was to save Goa’s identity in order that it may not be lost to gated communities or land sharks. http://www.heraldgoa.in/News/Main%20Page%20News/House-passes-resolution-on-Special-Status/73273.html