Goa Trinamool promises to return farm land

Panaji: The Trinamool Congress unveiled a populist Goa assembly election manifesto on Sunday, promising stringent action against illegal mining and returning land "recklessly" acquired by government agencies.

The manifesto, which was released by the party's state president Wilfred de Souza, claimed that the party would work towards confiscating assets and freezing bank accounts of those indulging in illegal mining.

The party also proposed to "charge-sheet illegal mining lessees/operators, involved government officials and any other individuals/entities indicted by the (MB) Shah Commission", referring to the judicial commission appointed by the central government to probe illegal mining across India, including Goa.

Speaking to reporters, Wilfred de Souza said that the party's manifesto promised to review the land acquisition cases and return land acquired from farmers by the state government for the sports city -- to host the National Games (year undecided) at Pernem, 30 km from here, and the greenfield airport at Mopa, near the Maharashtra border.

"Excessive land acquired for public projects as well as for private industry by the state will be systematically documented and returned back to the original owners," he said.

The party said that it had returned land acquired by West Bengal's erstwhile Left Front government for special economic zone (SEZ) operators to the farmers in Singur and Nandigram within 100 days of coming to power.

"We will return the land acquired for the Mopa airport and for the sports city. The land belongs to the people. We do not need this second airport. The one airport at Dabolim is more than enough. It is being expanded already," he said.

The party which started its Goa chapter only last month, is the first to release its election manifesto, before any other major political party.

The manifesto also promised establishment of the Lokayukta, online police complaint registration system, solid waste management mechanisms and creating a financial district in Goa on the lines of Hong Kong.