PANAJI: Goa Pradesh Congress Committee (GPCC) on Sunday demanded that the State government should come clean on how the stadiums already inaugurated and operational could be re-inaugurated by Union Minister for Sports and Youth Affairs Kiren Rijiju. “The advertisement issued by the State government in various newspapers mentioned about inauguration of indoor stadium at Navelim, Fatorda, Ponda, Campal and Sawalwada in Pernem. The reality is the indoor stadium at Fatorda was inaugurated on February 2, 1993 by the then Union Minister of State for Sports and Youth Affairs Mukul Wasnik, when Ravi Naik was the chief minister of Goa,” said GPCC general secretary Amarnath Panjikar.
“But the plaque fixed by the BJP government at the entrance of the multipurpose hall gives an impression that the hall is inaugurated on January 18, 2020. This is a clear act of misleading, misguiding and fooling the people of Goa,” Panjikar pointed out. Stating that the stadiums at Campal and Ponda were inaugurated almost 20 to 25 years back, Panjikar demanded that the Chief Minister Dr Pramod Sawant should explain why the these complexes were demolished and reconstructed instead of carrying out refurbishment and renovation works. He also alleged that the demolition of these complexes was done with an ulterior motive of spending huge amounts from the public exchequer which in turn has facilitated the corrupt BJP ministers to get huge commissions.
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“We demand that the plaque fitted at Fatorda Stadium stating that the stadium is inaugurated on January 18, 2020 should be removed immediately, failing which the Congress party will be compelled to remove it,” he said. Alleging corruption in the Sports Department, Panjikar said, “The information provided by the government mentions that the estimated cost of upgradation and refurbishment of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium at Fatorda was Rs 40.02 crore. The work order issued was for Rs 46.32 crore and the actual payment made as on June 15, 2019 to the contractor is Rs 60.44 crore. The Chief Minister needs to explain how an additional payment of Rs 14 crore is made to the said contractor.” “The same work is re-awarded to another contractor at an estimated cost of Rs. 89.54 lakh. The government is yet to come clean and explain what action it has taken against the contractor after the 300 tin sheets were blown away from the rooftop of Fatorda stadium,” Panjikar said.