COMUNIDADES KILL THE GOOSE

August 6, 2012 COMUNIDADES KILL THE GOOSE How the managing committees loot their own land FREDDY FERNANDES teamherald@herald-goa.com PANJIM: The local community or gaunkari lands, which were to be used for the greatest good of the greatest number, have come in for assault from the selfish personal interests of comunidade managing committee members themselves, through a shameful nexus with relatives, friends or purchasers who are ready to pay them handsomely for these acts of chicanery and betrayal. The comunidades or gaunkaris traditionally auctioned community lands to generate income for maintaining host of village services. These provisions of auctioning lands has been used by managing committee members to loot the comunidade lands for their narrow selfish greed. While 80 per cent of the illegal occupants on community lands are migrant vote banks promoted by politicians, about 20 percent of the occupants are locals, few of them poor and deserving. However, even those who have ‘purchased’ comunidade lands are illegal occupants, since both arrendamento and afframento lands are not subject to lease or tenancy and they can’t be sold. A recent judgement by the High Court has reportedly ordered for demolition of 35 bungalows constructed at Sirsaim on Tivim comunidades land, according to a Bardez comunidade attorney. A KTC employee who was the Attorney of Tivim comunidade allegedly signed agreements and gave NOCs to the so called purchasers who produced it before the Village panchayat secretaries who in turn gave NOC for construction. The illegal occupation when challenged in the court, exposed how managing committees themselves are involved in looting the land with presumed handsome monetary gains for themselves. In any case under Art 348 (III) of the Constitution, unless there is an authentic translation of a law and unless the legislature notifies this translation in the Official gazette, no amendments can be made by legislature and which means no sale of comunidade land can be permitted since there is no authentic translation thus far, informs Adv Andre Pereira, Secretary of the Association of Components of Comunidades, who had filed a case to protect comunidade lands in the Supreme Court. In 1970, the government of Goa through a notification forbade the traditional auction of comunidade land. However, the managing committees continued illegally with auctions, and connived with relatives to bid at auctions. With their leases renewed after every three years, they asserted tenancy rights to usurp the land though the Tenancy and Mundkar Acts which do not apply to Comunidade land as clarified by the Supreme Court Judgement in the absence of state grant, says Adv Pereira. A highly placed official stated that in Tiswadi, and other Comunidades, relatives of Gaunkars and managing committee members approach Mamlatdars to legitimize them as tenants under the Tenancy Act. Mamlatdars, who act under the Land Revenue Code, have no jurisdiction on this land as Comunidades are governed by the Code of Comunidades. Yet, Mamlatdars took ex-parte decisions and bestowed ownership not only of the land but even of sluice gates, the official stated. No tenancy rights apply to sluice gates but due to the exorbitant price of fish, even sluice gates have become the object of greed of managing committee members and their relatives and friends. While the Goa government has in a legislation forbidden gaunkars and state government servants from occupying bidding at auction of comunidade land, there is need to agitate to ensure that Central Government enacts a legislation to ban Central Government servants are banned from occupying comunidade lands, as stated by the Attorney of a Bardez comunidade which he says has seen plunder of land by huge shanties of migrants supported by the MLA, who is now in government. In fact, the code strictly stipulates that even if one’s wife or children have land/property in any part of Goa, they are not eligible to occupy comunidade land, thus leaving the majority of loot of comunidade land to migrants who do not have land in Goa. But either way, comunidade managing committees are guilty of bartering the civilisational heritage and killing the goose --the land, that would sustain the communities for generations. http://www.heraldgoa.in/News/Main%20Page%20News/COMUNIDADES-KILL-THE-GOOSE/62791.html