Mundkarial cases will be cleared within three months: CM

Panaji: Chief minister Pramod Sawant said on Tuesday that all pending mundkarial cases would be settled within three months, and mundkars would receive their rights. More than 2,000 mundkarial matters are pending across various revenue courts.

He added that the Majho Flat scheme would be introduced to address difficulties faced by flat owners, since in several instances, flat owners do not hold rights over the land. Sawant also handed over 450 sanands to legalise houses in North Goa.

He stated that houses belonging to all castes and religions have been regularised, and that in the next six months, all concerns linked to irregular houses would be addressed. “Hindus, Muslims, and Christians have benefited from the Majhe Ghar scheme,” Sawant said.

The CM reiterated that within three months, all mundkarial cases would be disposed of and houses would be recorded in the names of mundkars.

In 2023, the Bombay high court at Goa instructed all mamlatdars to ensure that such matters were decided within six months from the date of filing.

The division bench of Justices M S Sonak and Valmiki Menezes asked both collectors to “analyse the pendency of each taluka and properly assign the cases to revenue officers”. The bench also told the collectors to deploy mamlatdars with lower pendency to other talukas to speed up disposals, by passing suitable orders to empower the officers.

“The collector is enjoined to regularly assess the workload on the revenue officers,” the HC stated.

Sawant said flat owners have been dealing with numerous problems for the past 40 years, and that in many situations, the land has not been transferred to the Society or the flat owners. Govt would ensure rights for flat owners so they can repair or redevelop their buildings, he said.

He also said he would soon disclose the identity of the person who challenged state govt’s Majhe Ghar scheme in court.

Sawant said govt is not providing land free of cost to anyone. “State govt recovers the money. We will fight in court. We have already had a fight with the opposition in the assembly, and now, the time has come for the public to confront the opposition when they come to their houses to seek votes,” Sawant said.

He said govt has been regularising houses after passing a law in the assembly and that seven opposition MLAs had opposed the Bill towards this end. He said that in 1980, a beneficiary was allotted land under the 20-point programme by state govt, and she built a house, but that now, her neighbour has been filing complaints seeking demolition.

Sawant said Goans built houses during the Portuguese era when there were no talathi and secretary. “Today, the secretary and talathi are asking for documents. Even old houses cannot be renovated. To solve this problem, the Majhe Ghar scheme was introduced,” Sawant said.