Goa: TMC-MGP release 10-point poll manifesto

Apart from the direct benefit transfer of Rs 5000 per month to a woman of every household under Griha Laxmi and a collateral-free loan for Goan youth of upto Rs 20 lakhs at a 4% interest rate under Yuva Shakti that the TMC-MGP had already announced, they have also included a provision for unemployment insurance for upto six months for Goan youth.

TMC Goa state in-charge Mahua Moitra said, “In our manifesto there are three or four things that will really resonate with Goans. In Goa today, the number of unemployed youth is over a lakh, number of people displaced by stoppage of mining in 2.5 lakh. During Covid…the medical facilities in Goa were in absolute shambles. When you look at income support there exists nothing…the Mhadei waters sharing with Karnataka, Goa is not getting its fair share. The three linear projects which are killing the Mollem forest which is a biodiversity hotspot are a threat. On all of these issues, TMC has come up with something concrete to address every interest group. Whether it is a female head of household, unemployed youth, people working in mines, we will start sustainable mining within 250 days that is within one year.”

For the mining sector that has practically been closed for about a decade, the TMC-MGP have promised starting environmentally sustainable mining within 250 days of forming government and

80% quota in extraction contracts and mining associated jobs to be reserved for Goans . The income generated through Goa Mineral Corporation will be utilised to fund welfare schemes and development activities in Goa, according to the manifesto.

Ahead of the February 14 legislative assembly polls, the TMC-MGP alliance had also announced 33% reservation for Goan women in all jobs including the private sector and 50% reservation for women in all local bodies.

The manifesto also includes a 24 x 7 public transport system in Goa with a doubled fleet of state-owned buses, 24 x 7 uninterrupted electricity supply, pothole-free all-weather roads along with functional drainage systems and piped drinking water to all households.

State-of-the-art sports infrastructure and training facilities in every Taluka have also been promised by the alliance.

The parties have also promised to double the expenditure of health and education in the state and to grant title and ownership rights of land under possession to all Goan families residing in the state since before 1976 and 50,000 subsidised homes to homeless families under Mhaje Ghar, Maalki Hakk and a provision for a loan of upto Rs 10 lakhs at subsidised rates to revamp old Goan homes.