Amid pandemic, 60th anniversary bash of Goa Liberation is wasteful: Oppn slams CM

The Goa government's move to bring together legislators from all political parties to brainstorm and choreograph events for the celebration of the 60th anniversary of the state's Liberation from Portuguese yoke may well turn out to be a damp squib.

Opposition leaders across political parties have demanded that the Rs 100 crore package, which Sawant has requested from the central government for the yearlong celebration of the anniversary, be spent instead on reviving the state's economy, which has been severely hampered on account of the Covid-19 pandemic.

"I strongly feel that the real tribute to all those known and unknown Freedom Fighters who sacrificed their lives and fought for Liberation of Goa will be by extending a helping hand to the needy. The Government must curtail expenditure on celebrations and focus on providing basic facilities to the Common man, especially during these testing times," Leader of Opposition Digambar Kamat told reporters on Wednesday.

On Tuesday, Kamat along with former Congress Chief Minister Pratapsingh Rane as well South Goa MP Francisco Sardinha, had been nominated to a committee appointed by Chief Minister Pramod Sawant to organise the yearlong 60th-anniversary celebration events.

Working president of the Goa Forward party Kiran Kandolkar also said that his party would not participate in any meeting called to organise the anniversary celebrations.

"It’s a waste of precious public money at a time when Goa’s economy is in shambles, with the government borrowing to pay salaries. We stand by our demand that the celebrations should be scrapped and the money be used to help rickshaw owners, motorcycle pilots, taxi owners and bus owners who are badly affected due to Covid19 pandemic," Kandolkar said.
Goa was a Portuguese colony for a period of 451 years before the region was liberated by the Indian armed forces in 1961.

Earlier this week, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant had said that the Goa government will organise at least one event in every Indian state capital to celebrate the 60th anniversary year of the liberation of Goa from colonial Portuguese yoke.

The year-long celebrations would also be used, Sawant had said, to broad base Goa's tourism offerings by highlighting various other lesser facets of the state to potential tourists. The Chief Minister during his visit to the national capital last week had requested the central government for a special Rs. 100 crore package to organise the series of events.