The Goa chief minister says his government’s work on infrastructure and social welfare will see the BJP form a majority government
On January 27, Goa chief minister Pramod Sawant held a meeting of a few Catholic community leaders at the BJP’s election office in Panaji. Sawant sought their help in reaching out to the community members on the development work his government has done so far. It was a rare moment when the BJP reached out to community leaders instead of political leaders.
This meeting was especially significant since it was after Sawant had pitched for rebuilding the temples destroyed by the Portuguese. “Some temples that were destroyed during the Portuguese rule were rebuilt by our ancestors, and now, the government has also helped in the beautification of some of these temples. There are more temples left to rebuild. In the 60th year of liberation, we want to start rebuilding the temples that the Portuguese destroyed,” Sawant had said in Ponda last December.
Sawant seems to have shifted his focus to exhibiting his development work. He talks about the third bridge on the Mandovi river, the under construction second bridge on the Zuari river and the bypass at Canacona, as his showcase projects. “We have completed the infrastructure in eight years which had remained incomplete for the past 50 years. We have invested in national highways, bridges, health, education and tourism. The infrastructure in these respective fields is the best now,” says Sawant.
Under Sawant, an Ayurveda practitioner, Goa has increased its number of primary health centres from 19 to 55. The government reduced the fees for graduation studies by 50 per cent. Sawant claims that will play an important role in the BJP’s victory with a majority. “This time we are getting full majority. I am very much confident that we will win because of the work we have done in the past three years,” he says.
The CM is also hopeful that his government’s thrust on delivering services online and taking schemes to the people’s door step will help the BJP to secure a third term. As a CM, he has created a system where a class one officer hears the people’s problems pertaining to 80 schemes. Another 210 schemes and 21 services are made available online. “This is the reach of my government. We have jumped to the third place from seventh in the category of sustainable growth,” says Sawant.
Sawant is the first CM who has offered monthly 16,000 litre of water for free to Goans. However, he says the opponents’ freebies will not work. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has offered Rs 1,000 to every woman while the Trinamool Congress (TMC) has assured Rs 5,000 per household if they are voted to power. “The opponents are offering freebies because they know they are not going to come to power. On the contrary, we have completed 80 per cent things promised in our manifesto last time,” says Sawant.
He hopes the mining, tourism and pharmaceuticals industries will flourish again as the Covid cases are under control. “We are promoting tourism and IT business. The new international airport at Mopa will create more job opportunities,” he says. The first phase of this airport is likely to be completed by August 15.
