Poll-timed bill to provide legal cover to illegal homes faces opposition in Goa

Amid rising resentment against the Goa government's hurriedly passed legislation, the controversial Bhumiputra Adhikarini Bill 2021, which aims to provide legal cover to illegally constructed houses in the state, Goa's Art and Culture minister Govind Gaude has backed a tribal association's demand to drop the word 'bhumi-putra' from the legislation's nomenclature.

The bill was passed amid commotion during the Monsoon Session of the state legislative assembly that concluded last week. It aims to give ownership right to the self-occupied dweller of a small housing unit if they have been living in the state for 30 years or more as a ‘Bhumiputra (son of the soil)’.

"My stand is that the Chief Minister and the Revenue Department should consider and do the needful. If you are asking regarding United Tribal Alliance Association, I can say they have given me a representation. They want the word Bhumiputra to be replaced and the legislation be called the Bhumi Adhikarni bill instead... They have also given a memorandum to the CM," Gaude said.

Gaude, who is one of the two cabinet ministers who are of tribal origin, however, faulted the criticism of the bill, claiming the legislation was not aimed at appeasing migrants in the state, adding that thousands of Goan homeowners, whose dwellings had been deemed as irregular would stand to benefit from it.

"In my constituency alone, there are many Goans, bhumi-putras, who have built a home on others' property for so many years. They do not have a house number. They use power, water, but the panchayat does not get any revenue," Gaude said.

The Opposition as well as tribal groups and civil society activists have described the law as one aimed at appeasing migrant voters ahead of the 2022 state assembly polls.

Goa Forward Party president and opposition MLA Vijai Sardesai has already met Goa Governor PS Sreedharan Pillai and urged him not to grant his formal assent to the legislation.

On Monday, office bearers of the Gauda, Kunbi, Velip Association, who represent the three main tribal communities in the state, also met Pillai and expressed their opposition to the bill, stating that those who have lived in Goa only for 30 years could not be designated as bhumi-putras (sons of the soil).