A gazette notification issued on Thursday said the committee will assess whether creating a third district will lead to development and welfare of the people in general and backward talukas in particular.
Goemkarponn desk
PANAJI: The Goa government has formed a committee to examine the proposal to create a third district in the state. The seven-member committee will assess the need for creating a third district in Goa and submit a report to the government in three months.
A gazette notification issued on Thursday said the committee will assess whether creating a third district will lead to development and welfare of the people in general and backward talukas in particular.
The notification read, “The Committee will also suggest the boundaries of the district after considering the various aspects such as population, economic status, availability of infrastructure and public opinion. The committee will evaluate the benefits and also the costs involved in creation of a new district.”
The committee, headed by the chief secretary, includes the principal secretary (finance), resident commissioner, secretary (revenue), collector (North/South), director, directorate of planning, statistics and evaluation and an advisor to the chief minister.
In February 2020, Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant had said that the government was considering forming a third district in the state, in view of increasing population and the need for overall development.
At the inauguration of an administrative building in Dharbandora, Sawant had said Dharbandora taluka would come under the proposed third district. He had added that the move was required for people’s convenience and to ensure infrastructure was created for the growing population.
In January 2021, former chief minister and Ponda MLA Ravi Naik had moved a private member’s resolution in the state legislative assembly, demanding constitution of a third revenue district, comprising Sattari, Ponda and Dharbandora talukas.
Naik had argued that the third district was a long pending demand of people of these talukas and it would facilitate better administration, efficient delivery of services and help in getting more funds from the Centre for development projects in the state.
Naik had said the people from Sattari, Ponda and Dharbandora talukas were largely under-privileged and often found themselves running around the corridors of the collectorate buildings and had to travel to Margao and Panaji to get their work done. He said the people of neighbouring areas from Mollem, Collem, Sanvordem, Valpoi and Sakhali would also benefit if a third district was carved out.
Sawant had said in the House that the exercise would exert undue pressure on existing resources and that a proposal for the same could be considered at some other time in the future. The resolution was defeated after a vote in the House.