Goa Assembly: Parrikar to stand in for three ill ministers

Three ministers of the Goa government are indisposed and are not attending the Assembly Session which got underway here on July 19.

Questions in the House related to these ministries would be answered by Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar, sources said.

While Power Minister Pandurang Madkaikar is in a Mumbai hospital since last month, Urban Development minister Francis D'Souza too is in Mumbai for a health check-up and Transport Minister Sudin Dhavalikar has also told the Speaker that he would be unavailable for a few days.

"D'Souza has informed the Speaker that he will be on leave and will not be attending the session till July 30. He has gone to Mumbai for follow-up medical treatment," a senior official from the Legislature department told PTI.

D'Souza is a BJP legislator from Mapusa constituency in North Goa.

Dhavalikar, who was admitted to a hospital in Mumbai on July 9 and was discharged on July 18, has informed the Speaker that he would not be coming to the House for a few days, the official said.

Madkaikar is in hospital since the first week of June after suffering a brain stroke while on a visit to Mumbai.