Goa CM should release white paper on financial status of state: Congress

Congress leader Girish Chodankar on Thursday alleged that Goa has been pushed into bankruptcy by the BJP government and said that Chief Minister Pramod Sawant should release a white paper on the financial status of the State immediately.

"The admission by Chief Minister Pramod Sawant that the financial condition of the State is not good is a clear vindication of the Congress party's stand that the BJP government has pushed the State into bankruptcy. There is a financial emergency in Goa," he said.

"We have been raising these issues since November 2019 but the CM always tried to ridicule our claims. Truth always prevails. The calamity of coronavirus has now compelled the CM to accept the reality," Chodankar said in a release.

"The Chief Minister should immediately announce austerity measures for the next three years by completely putting a stop on foreign tours, promotional events and other wasteful expenses such as the construction of memorials, etc., and focus on providing relief to people in need. We must collectively find means to come out of this problem at the earliest. We must involve experts in financial management, who are ready to volunteer," he added.

He further said: "We demand the Chief Minister should come out with a white paper on the exact financial condition of Goa with details of the amount available in Contingency Fund, balance in CM Relief Fund, present liabilities of Goa government including those of various corporations and others."

"We demand the CM should now announce his government's plans and preparation to handle the situation if the lockdown is further extended. How will the government compensate the small businessmen and daily earners, who make a living through small businesses," he added.

Chodankar said that all the three Chief Ministers of BJP governments from 2012 to date turned a blind eye to gross corruption and loot of the state exchequer by various Ministers and party cadres as they wanted to save their chair.

This has resulted in the present situation where the State is not left with even Contingency Fund to face the emergency crisis, he added.

"The community survey proposed by the CM is illogical, ill-planned and without consulting experts. If implemented, Goa will become a corona destination as 7,000 employees will come in direct contact with four lakh families in three days. We reiterate our demand for community screening to be followed by testing. The CM needs to make proper homework on Bhilwara model and should not push Goa into Phase-3 of the corona pandemic," he said.

( With inputs from ANI )