PANAJI
The State government is proposing to make sweeping changes in the Code of Comunidades which regulate the functioning and administration of the over a millennium old unique Goan community system, giving itself powers to acquire lands for public projects even without their consent, to dismiss rogue managing committees and also introducing a proviso to regularize thousands of illegal encroachments.
Under Secretary (Revenue - I) Girish Sawant has circulated a draft of the amendments to the Administrators of Comunidades in the three zones -- North, South and Central -- for onward circulation to the managing committees of various comunidades and to seek feedback before finalisation by the government.
Sawant, however has not provided any timeline for the consultation process and for seeking feedback from the Comunidades, leaving it ambiguous if the government will legislate the amendments in the upcoming monsoon session of the Goa legislative assembly slated to commence in early July.
The amendments proposed seek to alter six articles of the Code of Comunidades, besides inserting a whole new article which enables "grant of land" to the State government for public projects, including land on long lease even without the consent of the respective Comunidades.
Comunidades in Goa own most of the State's land resources and have for decades seen large scale encroachments encouraged by local panchayat as well as State level politicians, who for nearly two decades have been pursuing an agenda to regularise these.
Current Transport and Panchayat Minister, Mauvin Godinho, was the first to propose regularisation of illegal encroachments in Comunidade owned land back in 2000. However, his proposal as Revenue Minister in the then Francisco Sardinha government failed to take off.
The move to regularise encroachments took wings, nevertheless in the tenure of late Manohar Parrikar via an amendment to the Code of Comunidades in 2002, but the proviso which made encroachments prior to the cut-off date of June 15, 2000 eligible for regularisation, required the sanction of the respective Comunidade's general body.
Now, according to the draft amendment circulated by Sawant, the government proposes to introduce a fresh cut-off date for regularisation of encroachments in Comunidade land.
Among the amendments proposed, the one that seeks to empower the State government to acquire Comunidade properties for public projects proposes to insert a whole new article 334-C, in the code.
It states: 334-C Grant of land for public projects - Notwithstanding anything contained in this code, the government may with the prior consent of the concerned comunidade, grant land by way of long lease for such period, on such terms and conditions as it deemed fit, to the government department, Government Undertaking, or any statutory body constituted by Government of Goa, for such public purposes as may be notified by government from time to time".
Yet another article it proposes to insert in the Code is to acquire land without the consent of the Comunidade which states: "334-D Further, notwithstanding anything contained in this code, the government may without the prior consent of' the concerned comunidade, grant land by way of long lease for such period, on such terms and conditions as it deemed fit, an area up to 5,000 square meters to the government department, Government Undertaking or any statutory body constituted by Government of Goa for such public purposes as may be notified by government from time to time."
It however, stipulates that compensation for such land will be paid to the Comunidade by the requiring department, as per the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition. Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013.
CONDUCT OF ELECTIONS
The State government proposes to give itself powers to control the procedures related to conduct of elections by amending Article 48 and inserting a paragraph which states: "The manner of conducting the elections as may be prescribed by way of rules by the Government shall be followed."
