How many Goans can afford a 1,000 Sq Metres Farmhouse, Mr.Chief Moneyster of Goa?
The number must be at least 999 that's why TCP rules are tweaked to allow Farmhouses on agricultural land twice of the original.
The dream of every Indian with enough money, to build a farmhouse/villa/bungalow in Goa can now come true with the tweaking of TCP policy, of allowing a farmhouse of 1,000 sq mt on an agricultural land. This policy was tweaked arbitrarily on 3rd May 2023. One can easily imagine on whose direction and why?
In Goa, You can buy an agricultural land, very conveniently now, all you have to do is to convince the Collector, that you can cultivate the land personally.
The Goa Restriction on Transfer of Agricultural Land Act 2023 enacted on 18th April 2023 states :"Provided that the Collector may on an application made in a prescribed form grant permission to transfer such land to a person other than Agriculturist in any of the following circumstances (c) on the request by a person to the Collector, the Collector is satisfied that the land is required for cultivating it personally by a person, who, not being an agriculturist, intends to take up agriculture and is capable of cultivating land personally.”Now once you buy the agricultural land, by "convincing the Collector", the impediment was that "Town and Country Planning" department of Goa, allowed only upto 500 sq mts of built-up construction on the plot.
If you have enough money to build a palatial farmhouse, the quantity of land allowed under this, was very petty.
But this impediment has been conveniently done away by tweaking the TCP law now.
In 1,000 sq mt built-up area, a huge and palatial Villa or bungalow can be easily built.
But, how many Goans can afford to build a 1,000 sq metres of Farmhouse? Is this number so high, and Goans have been complaining about the paucity of enough land to build a farmhouse, that this tweaking in the TCP law was necessitated?
This is a very good question to ask Revenue Minister Babush Monserrate (accused of the rape of a minor since 2016) and Chief Minister Pramod Sawant (who is known in political circles as "Property Sawant").
The Goa Restriction on Transfer of Agricultural Land Act, 2023 was vehemently criticised since its plan was mooted; because of many loopholes in it, which were conveniently planted, to take due advantage with those having proximity to political and monetary power.
The Government of Goa was so adamant to get it passed in any way, that the Speaker of the House, Ramesh Tawadkar did not even allow a vote on it. With the recent tweaking of TCP law, the picture becomes clear, why it was done so brazenly.
If this is the development which the Bhartiya Janata Party Government lead by “Property Sawant” means, then that day is not far-away, where Goans would be foriegners in their own lad, because all of their land would be owned by outsiders by merely being able to “Convince the Collector”.