Follow austerity measures; don’t spend on Parrikar ‘samadhi’: Goa AAP

Panaji, June 9 (IANS) Days after Goa Governor Satya Pal Malik advised the state government to put in place austerity measures, in order to save money for Covid-19-related medical and relief works, the Aam Aadmi Party in Goa on Tuesday appealed to Malik to urge Chief Minister Pramod Sawant to shelve “non critical” projects like construction of a memorial dedicated to late Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar.

“Your sage advice, however, seems to have fallen on deaf ears. At a time when avoidable expenditure is to be curtailed, CM Sawant seems to be going ahead with non-critical projects running into crores,” Goa Aam Aadmi Party’s Valmiki Naik said in a letter addressed to Malik on Tuesday.

“Work appears to be going on in full swing at this construction site at Miramar beach. In the current financial condition of the government of Goa, every rupee matters, yet the CM has chosen to expend crores of rupees on this project which can easily be postponed to a later date,” the letter also said.

The Goa government has earmarked Rs 10 crore in this year’s budget for construction of the ‘samadhi’ dedicated to Parrikar, who died on March 17, 2019 following a long battle with pancreatic cancer. Former Union Defence Minister Parrikar also served as Chief Minister of Goa on four occasions.

AAP has also demanded scrapping of the two posts of Deputy Chief Minister occupied by Manohar Ajgaonkar and Chandrakant Kavlekar in order to conserve the monies spent on perks linked to their position.

“Cabinet positions, such as that of two Deputy CMs, along with perks and resources dedicated to such posts of only political convenience and of no benefit to the common man, should also be scrapped,” the letter said.

“This type of expenditure is nothing but profligate and unconscionable in the current situation when the CM is borrowing money for even basic expenses, thereby adding to the already high public debt,” it added.

The Goa Governor has already forgone 30 per cent of his annual salary dedicating the money towards the battle against Covid-19 and on June 5 had written to Sawant urging his government to put in austerity measures and curb spending.

–IANS

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