During the recently concluded three-day Goa Assembly monsoon session, the BJP-led Goa government was able to pass 11 bills even as 12 opposition MLAs staged a protest and accused the government of bulldozing the bills without allowing debate and discussion.
Among 11 bills, the Goa assembly also passed the Goa Bhumiputra Adhikarini Bill, 2021, granting “Bhumiputra (Son of soil) status to a person residing for at least 30 years in Goa.
What is Bhumiputra?
The bill, introduced on Thursday, July 29, states that “the bill provides for a mechanism to give ownership rights to the self-occupied dwelling units.' The Bhumiputra has been defined as a person who is residing in the state of Goa for at least 30 years or more. Once the person has been recognised as the Bhumiputra, he can stake claim to ownership of the house which is constructed before April 1, 2019, and has an area of less than 250 sq m.
The bill also states that a Bhumiputra Adhikarini committee will be established, consisting of the Deputy Collector as its Chairperson, and officials from the departments of Town and Country Planning, Forest and Environment, and Mamlatdars of respective talukas as its members.
The deciding authority, Bhumiputra Adhikarini, will invite objections within30 days, including from the landowner which could also be a local body, and then take a decision of granting ownership to the bhumiputra. Any person aggrieved by the decision of the Bhumiputra Adhikarini can appeal before the Administrative Tribunal within 30 days.
Urging that intention of the bill is to benefit Goans, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant said that this legislation will enable the “mool Goenkar” to live with dignity. He said, “in the last so many years there have been cases of homes built by a person or his parents but the land is not in his name. There is always a sword dangling over their head that someone will file a case against them (over ownership). The land is of different kinds like ancestral property, communidade property, panchayat land. Everyone had wished for the house that they lived in, their generations lived in, to be theirs.”
He also said that those living in Goa for the last 30 years and having house numbers, electricity and water connections, but who have not got ownership of the house will benefit from this legislation.
What is the opposition to the bill?
The opposition parties have demanded the immediate withdrawal of the bill, questioning the government’s integrity in introducing the bill. The opposition parties also alleged that the bill was passed in a haste without proper scrutiny and expressed concerns over illegal structure will get regularised.
While Congress alleged that there is a “hidden agenda” of BJP behind this bill, Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party said the new piece of legislation will help Bhumiputra from other states residing in Goa. MGP MLA Sudin Dhavalikar told the media that the government’s move to regularise houses built on Comunidade land by people from other states will be an insult to the people of Goa.
Sanguem independent MLA Prasad Goankar, along with a delegation of Scheduled Tribes (ST) communities met Governor PS Sreedharan Pillai and appealed to him not to give his assent to the bill. They informed the Governor that ST communities were always known as bhumiputra and demanded that the government should drop the word bhumiputra from the bill.