Team Goemkarponn
Panaji: The Goa Legislative Assembly, in a heated late-night session, passed The Goa Legislative Diploma No. 2070 dated 15-4-1961 (Amendment) Bill, 2025, aimed at providing a legal route for granting land ownership to individuals who have built unauthorised houses on comunidade land.
The bill, introduced by the government, proposes a quasi-judicial mechanism under the Revenue Department, allowing encroachers to obtain legal rights to the land they occupy. However, the process excludes the comunidades from any participation or say in the proceedings, drawing sharp criticism from all seven Opposition MLAs.
Calling the legislation a revival of the shelved Goa Bhumiputra Adhikarini Bill, 2021, the Opposition staged strong protests, repeatedly rushing to the well of the House and disrupting proceedings. Speaker Ramesh Tawadkar was forced to adjourn the House for five minutes following the uproar. When the session resumed, the protests continued unabated.
Despite the disruption, the Speaker went ahead with the bill’s consideration and formal passage, before adjourning the session once again for five minutes.
AAP MLAs Venzy Viegas and Cruz Silva formally recorded their objections, while Revolutionary Goans MLA Viresh Borkar dubbed the legislation “Bhumiputra 2.0” and strongly opposed its provisions. Congress MLA Carlos Alvares-Ferreira and Goa Forward’s Vijai Sardesai also questioned the government’s authority to transfer comunidade land, arguing that the State holds only supervisory powers (tutelage) over the comunidades and cannot unilaterally transfer ownership.
“The law will not withstand legal scrutiny,” warned Alvares-Ferreira, asserting that it could backfire on the very people it aims to benefit.
Viegas added that any land grants issued under the new law by Deputy Collectors would likely face legal challenges from the comunidades, potentially complicating matters further for the encroachers.
Chief Minister Pramod Sawant initially attempted to calm the situation, expressing willingness for an open discussion. However, with the Opposition refusing to back down and continuing slogan-shouting from the well of the House, the bill was pushed through in the chaos.
The passage of the bill has reignited debate around land rights, legal sanctity of comunidade land, and the government’s approach to regularising illegal constructions in Goa.
