A five-day session of the Goa Assembly began in Panaji on Monday during which Governor B S Koshyari said the state is "nearing complete normalcy" after the COVID-19 outbreak, and that the pandemic is an eye-opener which has taught people to be self-reliant. On the first day of the session, members of the House paid tributes to some prominent personalities who died recently and those who succumbed to COVID-19 in the state.
So far, 761 people have died due to the coronavirus infection in Goa, as per official figures. The session began with Governor Koshyari's address to the House, following which members of the opposition parties protested against the state government's decision to hold a curtailed session.
In his address, the governor said the state has suffered a lot in terms of socio-economic and infrastructure development taking a backseat in the COVID-19 times. "But due to systematic planning, regular monitoring and instantaneous corrective measures by the state administration, the state is now gaining momentum in its activities from micro to macro level and is nearing complete normalcy," Koshyari said.
He said the COVID-19 (pandemic) is an eye-opener, which has taught people and states to be self-reliant. The governor further said though there was the effect of demonetisation as well as slowdown during 2017-18, the Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) for 2017-18 at current prices stood at Rs 69,352.05 crore, registering a growth rate of 9.29 per cent compared to 2016-17.
"The provisional estimate of GSDP at current prices for the year 2018-19 is Rs 73,170.33 crore, with an estimated growth rate of 5.51 per cent as compared to 2017-18," he said. "Goa has highest per capita income (at current prices) in the country which stood at Rs 4.54 lakh for the year 2017- 18, and for the year 2018-19 it stood at Rs 4.76 lakh," the governor told the House.
He said mining is an important sector in the state's economy, which had been contributing about 16 per cent of the GSDP in 2011-12, and in 2019-20 is contributing only about 0.2 per cent. "The Goa government has conducted 24 e-auctions and sold 14.68 million tons of the mineral iron ore lying at various stack yards," he said.
"My government is continuously making efforts to resume mining in a systematic manner by rejuvenating the state's economy, preserving the environment, natural resources, health status of people in the mining sector with the main vision to ensure sustainable mining in Goa," he said. After the governor's address, Speaker Rajesh Patnekar mentioned obituary references for several eminent personalities who died recently. He also mentioned about the death of several people in Goa due to COVID-19.
The House members then observed a one-minute silence to pay homage to all the departed souls. After the governor's address, the opposition members, without making any noise, got up and displayed hoardings to protest against the curtailed session.
Leader of Opposition Digambar Kamat said the opposition had demanded a lengthier session of the Assembly. "We met only for five days last year, and this time, the session has been called only for four (working) days," he said, adding that there are lot of issues that need to be raised on the floor of the House.
Notably, January 26 would be a holiday for the session on occasion of the Republic Day. Goa Forward Party MLA Vijai Sardesai and NCP legislator Churchill Alemao said a crucial issue like "turning Goa into a coal handling hub" should have been discussed in the House.
Sardesai said the governor's address had no mention of the apprehensions about coal handling, which he claimed as one of the burning issues in the state. Congress MLA and former chief minister Luizinho Faleiro said he had written to the governor, urging him to call a special Assembly session to discuss the coal issue.
Mahrashtrawadi Gomantak Party MLA Sudin Dhavalikar said he had submitted that the opposition, during the Business Advisory Committee, demanded five Calling Attention motions, but only three of them feature on the record. Later, BJP MLA Glenn Ticlo moved a Motion of Thanks on the governor's address. It was seconded by BJP legislator Dayanand Sopte.
The House was then adjourned for the day. Earlier, Speaker Patnekar on Sunday said 751 questions, comprising 195 'starred' and 556 'unstarred' ones, had been received for the session.
Five private members' resolution, four private members' bills and six government bills would be tabled during the session, he said.
Read all the Latest News, Breaking News and Coronavirus News here
Comments
0 comment