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<\/figure>\n\n\n\nA Congress delegation led by GPCC Media & Communications Department Chairman Amarnath Panjikar, GPCC Spokesperson Adv. Amit Palekar, Congress leader Janardhan Bhandari, Youth Congress President Archit Naik, former Mayor Surendra Furtado, Mahila Congress President Pratiksha Khalap, Seva Dal Chief Rajan Ghate, along with Samil Volvoikar, Leonid Furtado, Babi Bagkar, Nitin Chopdekar, Savio Coutinho, Rajesh Verekar, Himanshu Tivrekar, Shaikh Hasan Mansoor, Naushad Chowdhary, Trevor Fernandes, Mangaldas Naik, Chandan Mandrekar, Gajanand Tilve, Yogesh Govekar, Francis Fernandes, Seby Menezes and hundreds of Congress office-bearers and workers, gheraoed officials of the Goa State Urban Development Agency (GSUDA) and submitted a memorandum demanding the immediate withdrawal of the proposed lease.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Congress asserted that the Campal Sports Complex, spread over nearly 40,000 square metres and built at a cost of around \u20b930 crore from public funds, is a public asset created for the benefit of Goa\u2019s youth and cannot be converted into a commercial venture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Launching a scathing attack on the BJP Government, Adv. Amit Palekar alleged that the ruling dispensation has made a habit of handing over public assets to private interests.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe BJP Government is systematically putting Goa on sale. Prime public properties are being sacrificed for commercial interests. If this continues, tomorrow even the Captain of Ports Terminal may be handed over to casinos. Now their eyes are on the Campal Ground. We will not allow Goa\u2019s future to be auctioned.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Questioning the Government\u2019s silence, Palekar said the Sports Department, GSUDA, the Corporation of the City of Panaji and Smart City officials were all passing responsibility instead of answering the people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cEveryone is passing the buck because nobody wants to own this anti-people decision. We will not allow the BJP to play football with the future of Goa\u2019s youth.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He further criticised the increasing commercialisation of public sports facilities, pointing out that the Dr. Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Indoor Stadium is increasingly being used for commercial events instead of promoting sports.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhen the Government has unlimited funds for publicity and mega events, why can\u2019t it maintain a sports ground built with taxpayers\u2019 money? Sports infrastructure exists for athletes\u2014not for private profits.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
GPCC Media & Communications Department Chairman Amarnath Panjikar said the BJP\u2019s obsession with commissions and privatisation is steadily depriving young Goans of their rightful public infrastructure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cEvery public asset has become a business opportunity for the BJP. Goa\u2019s playgrounds are not for contractors or private companies\u2014they belong to the people. Congress will oppose every attempt to snatch away public sports facilities from our youth. If this proposal is not withdrawn, our agitation will only intensify.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Youth Congress President Archit Naik accused the BJP Government of betraying the people of Goa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe BJP has perfected two businesses\u2014buying MLAs and selling public assets. Instead of protecting what belongs to the people, they are auctioning Goa\u2019s future. The youth of Goa will give them a fitting reply.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Former Mayor Surendra Furtado demanded that the Campal Sports Complex be transferred to the Sports Authority of Goa (SAG) for professional management and that the facilities remain available free of cost for the residents of Panaji and neighbouring areas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Congress reiterated that public infrastructure created with taxpayers\u2019 money cannot be handed over to private operators for commercial gain and warned that the people of Goa would unite to defeat any attempt to privatise the Campal Sports Complex.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cGoa is not for sale. Campal Ground is not for sale. Congress will fight shoulder to shoulder with the people until this anti-public decision is withdrawn,\u201d the party declared.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Goa Kahabar: Stepping up its campaign against the BJP Government\u2019s reported decision to lease the newly developed Campal Football Ground and Stadium Complex to a private operator, the Goa Pradesh Congress Committee (GPCC) today warned that any attempt to privatise the iconic public sports facility would trigger a statewide mass agitation. A Congress delegation led […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25169,"featured_media":113483,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[155,6],"tags":[3794,38],"class_list":["post-113458","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-155","category-6","tag-featured","tag-goa"],"read":true,"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goakhabar.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/113458","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goakhabar.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goakhabar.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goakhabar.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/25169"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goakhabar.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=113458"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.goakhabar.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/113458\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":113484,"href":"https:\/\/www.goakhabar.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/113458\/revisions\/113484"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goakhabar.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/113483"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goakhabar.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=113458"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goakhabar.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=113458"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goakhabar.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=113458"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}