Goa govt orders inquiry into influx of migrant labourers

A legislator expressed concern in the Goa Assembly Wednesday about migrant labourers arriving in the state in large numbers, prompting the BJP-led government to order an inquiry.

Independent MLA and former minister Rohan Khaunte raised the issue.

A video of migrant labourers crossing the over-bridge at Khorlim Railway Station in North Goa district had gone viral earlier this week.

"When a train full of labourers arrives in Goa, there is fear. Labourers come to Goa for work and then they get a plot (of land) with the help of elements in panchayats, they build a house and become voters," Khaunte had said during Question Hour.

"Where they have come from, what are their antecedents, all this needs to be checked," he added.

Chief Minister Pramod Sawant said he had asked the District Collector to probe mass arrival of labourers by the train number 12742 (Patna-Vasco Express) and their whereabouts thereafter.

An official said later that revenue officers of villages Thivim, Colvale and Sirsaim (which are close to Thivim railway station) have been asked to conduct an inquiry.

Mamlatdar (chief officer of a tehsil) of Bardez, Laxmikant Kuttikar, asked the officials to submit their reports by July 29, he said.