Goa: Congress Chief Girish Chodankar Alleges Large Land Conversion Rip-off In State

Congress chief Girish Chodankar has accused a senior minister within the Goa authorities led by the BJP of orchestrating an enormous rip-off, alleging that crores in bribes had been collected to control land classification.

In a strongly worded publish on the social media platform X, Chodankar claimed that landowners paid over Rs 1,000 per sq. meter to have their properties faraway from personal forest classifications.

He wrote, “Everybody is aware of the “charges”–Rs1000+ per sq. meter–to take away land from personal forest & convert zones. Crores in bribes had been collected, and now he should return the cash! So, what does he do? He desires to waste taxpayers’ cash to problem a ruling that protects Goa’s land–just to safeguard his investor buddies who paid these heavy bribes.”

As per the publish, “The “Land Conversion Minister” has been hit with a double setback! First, the Supreme Court docket stopped the sale of personal forests, and now the Excessive Court docket has crushed his corrupt 17(2) land rip-off.”

Regardless of these rulings, Chodankar warned that the minister is planning to problem the Excessive Court docket decision–using taxpayer money–to defend those that had allegedly paid bribes. “That is shameful! He have to be sacked instantly! Goa can not afford ministers who promote our land for private acquire,” Chodankar acknowledged.

In the meantime, India’s first-ever public sale of exploration licences, a major reform geared toward unlocking the nation’s untapped essential and deep-seated mineral sources, was held in Goa.

On Thursday, Union Minister G Kishan Reddy and Chief Minister of Goa Pramod Sawant collectively launched the public sale of 13 Exploration Licence blocks, protecting essential minerals corresponding to Uncommon Earth Parts (REE), Zinc, Diamond, Copper, and Platinum Group Parts (PGE).

“This initiative, facilitated by means of a clear on-line bidding course of, is about to speed up systematic mineral exploration, improve personal sector participation, and scale back import dependency,” mentioned the Ministry of Mines in an announcement.