Team Goemkarponn
DELHI: Chief Minister Pramod Sawant met with Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, and Union Environment, Forest, and Climate Change Minister Bhupender Yadav.
Sawant asked Shah for his advice and gave him an update on several State initiatives. During his meeting with the Finance Minister, he also restated Goa’s desire for a larger portion of the tax devolution. Tax devolution has been asked to be increased from 41% to 50% by the state government.
In his discussion with Yadav, the Chief Minister also brought up the matter of villages that were to be removed from the Western Ghats Ecologically Sensitive Areas (ESA) notice. The Expert Committee on Western Ghats has already received a recommendation from the State government to exclude 21 villages from the draft ESA notification.
The MoEF&CC published a draft notification in August 2024 suggesting that 108 Goan villages be added to the ESA list.
Sawant also asked the Union Minister to expedite the completion of Goa’s Coastal Zone Management Plan (CZMP) 2019. The State government has established January 2025 as the new goal date for its completion after missing deadlines in October 2023 and May 2024.
Meanwhile, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant and Newly appointed BJP Goa President Damu Naik meet BJP National President J.P Nadda in Delhi. They discussed strengthening of party & development of Goa.
