* Min Subhash Phaldesai informs that process of formulating a Heritage Policy has started
Goemkarponn desk
PORVORIM: With the goal of adding more monuments and sites to the protected list and developing a structure for their conservation, Minister for Archaeology Subhash Phaldesai today said that the state government has started the process of formulating a Heritage Policy for Goa.
He said the Archaeology Survey of India has designated 21 monuments as protected, and there are 51 monuments on state lists of archaeological interest. The Town and Country Planning Act also lists 400 privately owned historic structures.
Fatorda MLA Vijai Sardesai asked for a tangible guarantee during a private member motion about the formulation of a legacy Policy since it is urgently necessary to conserve our cultural legacy.
According to Sardesai, Goa has close to 430 additional monuments and structures with enormous heritage value in addition to the 51 notified structures under the State Archaeology Department. However, the State Government has not yet established a “Heritage Conservation Policy” to conserve and preserve these architectural monuments.
Sardesai accused the government of giving archaeology, a state treasure and the core of our identity, a stepmotherly treatment.
“There are federal and state statutes that require evaluation, and heritage policy is required for these laws. These monuments or protected places need to be protected and conserved, but the department lacks the resources to do so, he continued.
The MLA further claimed that Goa has the oldest and most valuable 500-year-old archives in all of Asia. Only 53 of the 3000–4000 key sites for cultural heritage are protected.
He further pressed the state government to try to secure funding from Unesco for the protection of these historic sites, manuscripts, and other items.
AAP MLA Cruz Silva urged that when creating the Heritage Policy Department of Art & Culture, TCP, Panchayat, and PWD considerations be taken into account. The originality of the monument cannot be altered. There needs to be more hiring since there are fewer employees.
Benaulim AAP MLACapt Venzy Viegas said that Khazans must be included in the heritage policy. Food supplied by specially crafted Khazans must therefore be maintained. Communidade ought to be regarded as an intangible legacy and incorporated into policy
