Panaji: Chief Minister Pramod Sawant on Thursday said that his government will recommend to the state election commission (SEC) to defer the elections to 186 village panchayats so as to adopt triple test for reserving wards for other backward classes.Interacting with media persons in Panaji, Sawant said the government will not do any injustice to the people belonging to OBCs.“I have received the opinion of the Advocate General on the recent verdict of the Supreme Court. If we hold the polls immediately then we will have to hold elections without reserving even a single ward; we don’t want to do this. We want to give reservation to OBCs as they constitute 27% of the state’s total population,” Sawant explained.“Government can’t postpone the elections; it is the discretion of the SEC. We will seek time.”“If the poll panel grants time then we will ask the OBC Commission to complete the triple test exercise. Once the report of the OBC Commission is ready then it will be sent to the SEC for consideration and thereafter the SEC will announce the election schedule,” he added.It is pertinent to note that the triple test has been mandated by the apex court for reservation of wards for OBCs for the local body elections.“As per the state Advocate General’s opinion, the government will seek time from the SEC for asking the OBC Commission to prepare a report, based on which reservation of wards can be done for the panchayat elections in accordance with Supreme Court directions,” the Chief Minister added.“The related file will be sent to SEC tomorrow,” Sawant said.In a related development, Goa State Commission for Backward Classes chairman Manohar Adpaikar expressed his readiness to undertake the triple test exercise.“We are ready. But we need the required manpower to conduct a survey. Government should allow us to rope in its employees. With their assistance, we can complete the task keeping the last survey as base, provided it is accepted by the concerned authorities,” Adpaikar said.He said that if need arises then the government can consider engaging an agency to conduct a totally fresh survey across the state.“Agencies have experience and all machinery with them. They are familiar with conducting big surveys in quick time,” Adpaikar said.He informed that the last survey was conducted in December 2013, where it was found that 26.26% of the state’s population belonged to the OBC category.
Margao: Leader of opposition Michael Lob on on Tuesday demanded that the government postpone the panchayat elections scheduled for June by four months to facilitate proper provision of reservation for OBCs in accordance with the Supreme Court order in that regard. The term of the panchayats expires in June before which their elections are due. On May 10, the Supreme Court had held that no reservation for OBCs can be provisioned until the triple test formality, including setting up of a dedicated commission to conduct a contemporaneous rigorous empirical inquiry into the nature and implications of the backwardness qua local bodies within the state, is followed “in all respects”. Lobo said that the SC order states that if the exercise isn’t completed in time then that except for seats reserved for SC/ST, rest must be categorised as general category. Lobo said that if the government goes ahead with the polls based on the available data, there was a possibility of it being challenged in the court thereby inviting trouble. Further pointing out that the state OBC corporation was lying defunct, Lobo demanded that the body be revived at the earliest. “Place administrators for panchayats for carrying out day to day affairs. There’s no provision in law for extension of terms of panchayat bodies,” Lobo said.
PANAJI: Chief minister Pramod Sawant on Saturday said that collaboration and investment by industry conglomerates like Tata Sons will offer great opportunities for Goa. Sawant on Saturday met Tata Sons group chairman N Chandrasekaran, Noel Tata and other CEOs, to boost investment in Goa. Industries minister Mauvin Godinho and chief secretary Puneet Kumar Goel were also present at the meeting. Goa Small Industries Association (GSIA) played a key role in arranging this meeting, with a clear agenda of inviting the mother industry to boost MSME growth, Sawant said. The chief minister said that opportunities in all sectors like IT, aviation manufacturing, retail, hospitality, training centres for hospitality, and soft skills were discussed at the meeting. “Goa possesses immense potential in industry development and employment generation,” Sawant said. The CMO said that Chandrasekaran promised to immediately plan an internal meeting with their top CEOs to promote new businesses in Goa. Jobs in retail, IT, hospitality discussedSawant said opportunities in sectors like IT, aviation manufacturing, retail, hospitality, training centres for hospitality, and soft skills were discussed. “Goa possesses immense potential in industry development and employment generation,” Sawant said. The CMO said Chandrasekaran promised to immediately plan an internal meeting with their top CEOs to promote new businesses in Goa.
PANAJI: Chief minister Pramod Sawant on Saturday said that collaboration and investment by industry conglomerates like Tata Sons will offer great opportunities for Goa. Sawant on Saturday met Tata Sons group chairman N Chandrasekaran, Noel Tata and other CEOs, to boost investment in Goa. Industries minister Mauvin Godinho and chief secretary Puneet Kumar Goel were also present at the meeting. Goa Small Industries Association (GSIA) played a key role in arranging this meeting, with a clear agenda of inviting the mother industry to boost MSME growth, Sawant said. The chief minister said that opportunities in all sectors like IT, aviation manufacturing, retail, hospitality, training centres for hospitality, and soft skills were discussed at the meeting. “Goa possesses immense potential in industry development and employment generation,” Sawant said. The CMO said that Chandrasekaran promised to immediately plan an internal meeting with their top CEOs to promote new businesses in Goa.
