‘Election schedule will be decided by ECI’
Panaji: Ending speculations in political circles, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant on Thursday said the Goa Assembly elections are likely to be held in February 2027.
Addressing a press conference after chairing a cabinet meeting, Sawant said, “The final schedule and dates of the polls will be decided by the Election Commission of India (ECI).”
“As much as I know, the Assembly elections will be held in February 2027. However when exactly they would be conducted depends upon the ECI,” Sawant said.
The term of the eighth Goa legislative Assembly ends in March 2027.
Giving details about the decisions taken at the meeting, Sawant said the cabinet decided to waive altogether 9,525 long-pending electricity bills worth around Rs 12 crore including some dues dating back 30 to 40 years.
The waiver covers accounts where consumers are no longer existing or traceable thus helping clear decades-old pending dues, the Chief Minister said.
The cabinet also decided to transfer the subject related to economically weaker section (EWS) recruitment from the Directorate of Social Welfare to the Personnel Department.
Furthermore, in line with recent GST Council decisions, the cabinet approved proposed amendments to the Goa Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017.
The amendment bill will soon be introduced in the Assembly.
The cabinet also cleared the allotment of 2,729 square metres of land belonging to the Water Resources Department to the Jyoti School for Children with Autism on a 40-year lease.
In another cabinet decision, the Group C and Group D staff working across North Goa, South Goa, and Kushavati collectorates will be brought under a unified common cadre.
The Chief Minister disclosed that the cabinet approved two posts of assistant professor at Goa Medical College, one in physiology and another in sports science/orthopaedic surgery, on a contract basis.
The government will also procure 7,922 sqm of land in front of the Curchorem-Cacora Industrial Technical Institute.
Replying to a question by the media, Sawant confirmed that the Directorate of Education has issued a showcause notice to the Sada-based Deep Vihar Higher Secondary School and sought explanations following the student drowning incident.
It is pertinent to note that family members, neighbours and friends of the student Rahul Bind, who died during a trekking activity organised by the higher secondary school, on Wednesday demanded the suspension of the principal and teachers responsible.
The family, which gathered outside the school, also demanded that the investigation be transferred from Valpoi police station to the crime branch, saying that a thorough and impartial probe was needed to establish the circumstances leading to Bind’s death.
