Tenure of Goa's key panel extended; given more fiscal powers

The tenure of a high-level ministerial committee, formed to handle administrative affairs in Goa in the absence of ailing Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar, was today extended by one month, a senior official said.

The Cabinet Advisory Committee (CAC) has also been vested with enhanced financial powers, another official said.

Parrikar had constituted the three-member committee before leaving for medical treatment in the USA early this month. The 62-year-old chief minister is undergoing treatment for a pancreatic ailment at a hospital in the US.

The current tenure of the committee - comprising ministers Sudin Dhavalikar (MGP), Francis D'Souza (BJP) and Vijai Sardesai (Goa Forward party) - expires on March 31.

The panel's term has been extended by another month with effect from April 1, Chief Secretary Dharmendra Sharma said.

Sardesai's Goa Forward Party and Dhavlikar's Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party are alliance partners in the BJP-led government.

The CAC has been entrusted with the task of running the day-to-day affairs of the state administration in Parrikar's absence.

After its constitution, the committee has met several times to discuss crucial issues facing the state. These included the crisis in the mining industry following a Supreme Court order.

The SC last month quashed 88 mining leases in Goa and directed them to stop fresh extraction of ore from March 15 onwards.

The committee was originally awarded financial powers to approve proposals involving expenditure up to Rs 5 crore and this limit has now been raised to Rs 10 crore.

"Fresh orders issued today increased the financial powers of the committee to Rs 10 crore," a senior officer from the state secretariat told PTI.

Power of ministers in the Goa cabinet to sanction funds for government-related works has also been enhanced from the existing Rs 1 crore to Rs 2 crore, he added.