Team Herald
MARGAO: Former MLA Radharao Gracias came down heavily on the State government for the recent exorbitant hike in land prices and urged the public to strongly oppose this decision, otherwise, Goans will not be able to afford any land in their own State.
While addressing media persons on Wednesday, the senior advocate warned that the notification regarding the hike is not withdrawn, soon there will be a situation where builders from Delhi etc will buy out prime land in Goa, which will be sold at a price that will be out of the reach of the common man.
Gracias called on activists and political parties to take this up seriously as well given the long-lasting consequences that could hurt Goans for years to come and added the government is trying to address its revenue deficit by taking advantage of the common man and that it should focus on reducing corruption to solve the revenue deficit issue.
He added that the government should be ensuring that land is available for Goans, that too at a cheaper price. On that note, Gracias accused the government of not being bothered about the plight of the common man, but is instead out to favour the real estate lobby.
He gave the example of how in his village of Majorda, there has been a 400% hike and said it is not normal for there to have been such a big hike in two years’ time. Gracias gave the examples of other places like Margao that have a higher FAR compared to the villages.
Thereafter, Gracias pointed out that the cost of stamp duty and registration will be higher than the cost of the land. Moreover, he added that even the person who sells the land, will have to pay higher capital gain taxes based on the extremely-high stamp duty and registration fees.