Goa govt to expedite settlement of IFFI expenses

The Goa government today said it has issued instructions for settling bills of the expenditure for International Film Festival of India (IFFI) within 3-4 months of holding the event.
"The bills as back as IFFI 2013 are pending due to various clarifications and doubts raised on them. I agree that the bills should be settled immediately. I have issued instructions that henceforth the bills should be settled within three to four months of holding the event. All the bills should be settled by March 31," Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar told state Assembly.
IFFI is held annually in Goa between November 20 and November 30.

The issue was raised on the floor of the House by former Chief Minister and Congress legislator Digambar Kamat, who said that the bills of IFFI are kept pending for several years.
As per the written reply tabled in the House, the expenditure for IFFI 2014 was Rs 12.58 crore and for IFFI 2015 it was Rs 3.62 crore.
Parsekar admitted that several bills are yet to be paid and once they are settled, the expenditure will go up.

Kamat said there are allegations that the bills of local artistes are kept pending, while those who are from outside the state are promptly paid.

He also said that the state government had assured that it will hold an inquiry into the matter of locals being kept waiting for payments.
Parsekar said the inquiry is not yet completed.
"Inquiry is not yet completed. I will submit the inquiry report once it is done," the Chief Minister said.
Responding to another question by BJP legislator Nilesh Cabral, Parsekar said the government wants to invite sponsorship for IFFI.
"I have asked Entertainment Society of Goa (which hosts the festival) to seek sponsorship by February-March rather than waiting for the last minute. We are targeting Rs five crore sponsorship for this year, Rs ten crore for next year and Rs fifteen crore for the subsequent year," he said.