Team Goemkarponn
Panaji: Chief Minister Pramod Sawant has assured the Goa Legislative Assembly that a detailed inquiry will be launched into the alleged manipulation of BhuNaksha land maps.
This comes after Leader of the Opposition Yuri Alemao accused officials of accepting bribes, allegedly up to ₹1 crore per alteration, to digitally tweak land records in favour of certain hotels and commercial establishments. Alemao demanded immediate suspension of the officials involved and called for accountability.
Revenue Minister Atanasio “Babush” Monserrate acknowledged the discrepancies, stating that the cases brought to the department’s attention had been rectified. He reaffirmed that any misuse of the system would be thoroughly investigated.
On the matter of administrative reorganization, Monserrate informed the House that the proposal to carve out a third district from Goa is still under active consideration. He clarified that no final decision has been taken yet. Last week, the Cabinet had given in-principle approval to the proposal, which aims to bring focused development to the relatively underdeveloped talukas of Dharbandora, Quepem, Sanguem, and Canacona by attracting more central funding.
Addressing other departmental demands during the Assembly session, Monserrate announced that government schools will soon receive grants to promote science-related programmes. He also highlighted the success of Goa’s efforts to secure Geographical Indication (GI) tags for ten local products, with twelve more applications currently under review in Chennai.
In the area of labour and employment, the minister cast doubt on unemployment statistics provided by central agencies and stated that a new 150-bed ESI hospital will be constructed in Mulgaon to serve over two lakh workers.
Monserrate also spoke about the streamlining of land mutation procedures. He said sub-registrars will now have the authority to issue mutation certificates in cases where property rights are acquired through registered instruments, a task previously managed solely by mamlatdars.
Additionally, the government has identified 25,000 square metres of land near Assonora for setting up a National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) unit in Goa.
