Goa govt says no list of temples destroyed during Portuguese rule

The Indian Express | 5 hours ago | 22-07-2022 | 05:40 am

GOA FORWARD Party MLA Vijai Sardesai on Thursday accused the state government of trying to “rewrite history” in its assurance of rebuilding temples destroyed during Portuguese rule in Goa when the government had not notified any such monuments.Chief Minister Pramod Sawant, however, said the Archives and Archeology department would notify the list.“Invest in history for the love of the past and don’t try to rewrite history to meet your agenda. We have a rich past, whether we like it or not we have to live it and we don’t have to search for something that may or may not exist,” said Sardesai.He said that such exercises should not be undertaken in a way that cause “communal tension”.Sardesai and Congress MLA Altone D’costa had asked for a “list of all religious and heritage sites destroyed by the Portuguese and whether these religious sites or deities were relocated and/or rebuilt, if not, the total budgetary provision made to rebuild temples”.In his written reply, Archives and Archeology Minister Subhash Phaldessai stated, “List of religious/Heritage sites destroyed by the Portuguese is not available with Archeology Department. However, several historians have published relevant research on this topic which is available in public domain. Budgetary allocation for restoration of temple is 20 crore for financial year 2022-23.”Chief Minister Pramod Sawant had announced earlier that a budgetary provision of Rs 20 crore had been made for rebuilding temples destroyed during the Portuguese rule.Phaldessai said, “There is no list [of destroyed temples] but there are several books and documents with the archives department.” Naming several works of historians, he said the books were available in public domain. “These books were not written today or after the Chief Minister made the announcement. They are in the archives, there is information. There is no manipulation of any kind.”

Read more

Share:

Similar News

Oppn grills govt over ‘Covid concession’ given to GoaMiles

Times of India | 6 hours ago | 22-07-2022 | 04:40 am

Times of India

6 hours ago | 22-07-2022 | 04:40 am

Porvorim: Opposition members questioned tourism minister Rohan Khaunte over the concession given to GoaMiles, the taxi aggregator appointed by the Goa Tourism Development Corporation (GTDC), to tide over loss of business during the pandemic. The issue witnessed a heated discussion after opposition leader Michael Lobo said the aggregator was given a “back-door entry”. Chief minister Pramod Sawant, however, said the members should not “politicise the taxi issue”, even as opposition MLAs said that the concession was an “undue favour to the taxi aggregator”. Aldona MLA Carlos Ferreira said the reason given by the government to offer the concession to GoaMiles – since the taxi service was operating during Covid-19 – cannot be justified because it did not give free service. Khaunte said that unlike other app-based taxi aggregators who charge a commission between 20% to 30%, GoaMiles does not charge any surge prices or commissions from taxi owners. The revenue source is in the form of a convenience fee, ranging from Rs 25 to Rs 140 per ride that is charged to the customer over and above the cab fare. “But within the rates notified by the transport department,” Khaunte said. “Customers paid for the services. Why was GST not collected from it even as customers were charged for the service,” Ferreira said. He added, “If Goa Miles charged less fare, it was under-cutting. When there is undercutting in business, it affects all. It is nothing but a measure to grab the market.” He said that the GTDC board had finalised a policy for all new tourism service providers, including GoaMiles, wherein the service providers were asked to pay 5% of the gross revenue for the financial year 2020-21 and 2021-22 due to the pandemic. “The concession was given to all and not just GoaMiles. We can have a meeting with the chief minister and coastal MLAs. We can fix a rate as well and see what benefits can be offered to families of taxi operators from the 5% revenue collected by the government,” said Khaunte. He added, “First there has to be a consensus to have a taxi aggregator after which other issues can be sorted out.” The minister maintained that the government wants a taxi aggregator to help tourist taxi operators and not to kill their business. He said that Rs 3.34 crore has been collected as GST since the taxi service was introduced in the state, and it was a revenue earning for the government. Besides it paid Rs 6.5 lakh (5% of the gross revenue) to GTDC for February 2020- 2021.

New museum to showcase culture of Goa’s ancestors

Times of India | 10 hours ago | 22-07-2022 | 01:11 am

Times of India

10 hours ago | 22-07-2022 | 01:11 am

Porvorim: With the new building for the Goa State Museum expected to be built at Ela, Old Goa, the storehouse of Goa’s history will provide an avenue for visitors to take a trip down memory lane into the life and time of Goa’s ancestors. “Some of the artefacts and many objects are already displayed for the general public free of cost. However, soon after construction of the building for Goa State Museum at Ela, Old Goa, steps will be taken to showcase the culture and tradition of our ancestors by displaying and exhibiting maximum available artefacts and objects for the general public in a better modernised form,” said chief minister Pramod Sawant while responding to a question by Santa Cruz MLA Rodolfo Fernandes at the assembly. Owing to the deteriorating condition of the building of Goa State Museum at Patto, the state government had decided to temporarily shift the office of the museums along with the entire collection of artefacts to the Old Secretariat Complex at Adil Shah Palace in Panaji. Sawant said that the agriculture department has already transferred the land to the Goa State Museum for construction of the new building and the process of availing the required funds under the ‘Museum Grant Scheme’ under ministry of culture, government of India is under process. In another LAQ, while responding to Calangute MLA Michael Lobo, Sawant revealed that four private museums have been granted government assistance under the scheme to recognise and assist setting up of private museums.

Straight fight between BJP, Congress for Goa assembly deputy speaker’s post

Times of India | 22 hours ago | 21-07-2022 | 01:25 pm

Times of India

22 hours ago | 21-07-2022 | 01:25 pm

PANAJI: Two nominations were received on Thursday for the post of deputy speaker of Goa legislative assembly. For which, the election is scheduled to be held on Friday. The BJP has fielded Mapusa MLA Joshua D’ Souza while the Congress has fielded Siolim MLA Delilah Lobo. “In pursuance of sub-rule (1) of rule (9) of rules of procedure and conduct of business of the Goa legislative assembly, the speaker has been pleased to fix Friday, July 22 for holding the election for the post of deputy speaker of the assembly,” secretary (legislature) Namrata Ulman said in a notification. The deputy speaker's post has been lying vacant for over four months now. In April, Sanguem MLA Subhash Phal Dessai had resigned from the post ahead of his induction in chief minister Pramod Sawant-led cabinet. Recently, speaker Ramesh Tawadkar had withdrawn the notification for the election of deputy speaker. The election was earlier scheduled to be held on July 12, for which the nominations were to be filed before noon on July 11.

‘Absorb power line workers employed for over a decade’

Times of India | 1 day ago | 21-07-2022 | 04:04 am

Times of India

1 day ago | 21-07-2022 | 04:04 am

Porvorim: Several legislators on Wednesday asked power minister Ramkrishna ‘Sudin’ Dhavalikar to give recruitment preference for line helpers working with the department on contract basis for over 10 years. Nuvem MLA Alexio Sequeira said that most of these line helpers come from the tribal community. “If they had been absorbed, by now they would have been promoted to linemen. They have lost 10 to 12 years of seniority. They should be given preference,” he said. Chief minister Pramod Sawant said that he would look into the issue, but said the candidates should have mandatorily completed at least Class X to be eligible to be absorbed in permanent posts. Dhavalikar said the personnel department will have to approve the recruitment or else absorbing the staff will be difficult.

Government has facility to create data bank of Goan NRIs, PIOs properties: Goa CM Pramod Sawant

Times of India | 1 day ago | 20-07-2022 | 11:54 am

Times of India

1 day ago | 20-07-2022 | 11:54 am

PORVORIM: The government has a facility to create a data bank of landed properties — other than flats and shops — of Goan NRIs and PIOs who are willing to register their properties, chief minister Pramod Sawant told the House on Tuesday. This, he said, would prevent the manipulation of land records and the subsequent execution of fraudulent sale deeds or transactions. Sawant was responding to a question by Calangute MLA Michael Lobo on provisions under the law to protecting properties of NRIs and NRGs (non-resident Goans). Lobo also sought to know whether the government intended to introduce a law to protect land belonging to Goans. “At the initiative of the commissioner for NRI affairs, the government had amended the Goa Buildings (Lease, Rent and Eviction) Control Act, 1968, to enable NRIs to recover possession of their premises when the same are bonafide required for their occupation, or for the occupation of any member of their family. This amendment came into force from June 25, 2009 and benefits NRIs seeking recovery of possession of their premises,” Sawant said in a written reply. He submitted that one land-grabbing complaint was filed by an NRI and six by NRGs over past three years. The chief minister further said that Portuguese passport holders have not shared details of their properties with the state government. He was responding to a question by St Andre MLA Viresh Borkar on whether the government has any mechanism in place to protect properties of Portuguese passport holders of Goan origin from land/property scams that the state is currently embroiled in. “Generally, all public records and documents are preserved by the respective departments,” Sawant said. The home department said there is no proposal under consideration to take up issue of rights of Goans holding Portuguese passports.

More News

Latest News