The Hindu : National : Goa undecided on Special Economic Zone policy

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Goa undecided on Special Economic Zone policy

Special Correspondent

PANAJI: The Goa government is yet to decide on whether to scrap the Special Economic Zone policy.

The Digambar Kamat government, which has decided not to reverse its decision to demand denotification of the three SEZs from the Centre, is, however, non-committal over the demand from activists from anti-SEZ groups that the State policy on SEZ be scrapped.

A delegation of the groups under the banner SEZ Virodhi Manch (SVM), which met the Chief Minister on Wednesday to press their demand to scrap the State SEZ policy, later said he promised to look into the matter.

Regarding the inordinate delay in registering the FIR based on the criminal complaint by the villages of Loutolim, Verna & Nagoa in south Goa, the areas around the proposed Verna SEZ, alleging fraud in the allotment of land by the State-owned GIDC for SEZs in the Verna Industrial Estate, made on October 22 last year, “the Chief Minister agreed that the police need to expedite the investigation in the much-delayed case,” said an SVM spokesperson.

Taking a strong stand against the Centre’s letter to the State that it could not denotify the already notified SEZs in Goa, the SVM warned the Centre and the State government of dire consequences if the same were forcefully imposed on the people.

The SVM delegation was led by co-conveners Charles Fernandes and Rohidas Satarkar.

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