NT NETWORK
PANAJI
Minister for Town and Country Planning (TCP) Vijai Sardesai on Wednesday said that he was not convinced that his department is in a position to have the Regional Plan 2021 (RP-2021) ready by December 31, 2017, as promised by Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar recently during the budget presentation.
During his maiden visit to the TCP headquarters, the Minister held a marathon meeting with chief town planner S T Puttaraju and other officials and reviewed the functioning of the department. The officials also made a presentation about the plans of the department including the status of the regional plan.
Addressing the media after the meeting, Sardesai said he did not want to commit to what the Chief Minister has said, as he is not in a position yet to say whether the department is ready with the regional plan.
“Chief Minister and I will have a presentation on April 19 once again to discuss the regional plan and to see whether we can provide the regional plan by December 31,” he said, adding that he is not making tall claims today because if the regional plan does not get ready by December due to certain circumstances in the department, he will be at the receiving end. He said that the department is trying
to keep the machinery well-oiled so as to fulfil the Chief Minister’s promise of providing the RP-2021 to the public by December 31.
Sardesai said that there are various initiatives that the department officials intend to take up including enforcement of the Goa Public Service Guarantee Act in toto. “I have raised concerns that the common Goan faces problems and I want this department to ensure that he gets justice in a time-bound manner. We have often seen that the approach of the department has been project-oriented and focus is not on the common man. Our entire focus will be on single family dwelling, which is a house that a common man needs and for that, everything should be made easy,” he said.
Stating that priority of the department would be the common man, Sardesai emphasised on punctuality of the department staff in order to stop the common man from being made to repeatedly visit the department office for getting his work done.
Pointing out that his focus would be on preserving the natural and architectural heritage of the state for which the government will come out with a good plan by the next month, the Town and Country Planning Minister said that the state must look different, as this is the 50th year of the historic Goa Opinion Poll. “Hence, we want to preserve and promote our distinct identity,” he said.