Kamat ready to face 'floor test' again if needed

Panaji, Aug 24: Reiterating that his government is 'firmly in the saddle' and vowing to follow all democratic norms, Chief Minister Digambar Kamat today said he was ready to prove the majority of his government on the floor of the Assembly. ''I am ready to prove majority on the floor of the House whenever needed. I always abide by the observations of the Supreme Court and other democratic institutions that a floor test is the only way to prove majority, not Raj Bhavan or Rashtrapathi Bhavan,'' Mr Kamat said.

Participating in a ''question-answer session'' with journalists from across the country immediately after inaugurating the 124th Working Committee meeting of the Indian Federation of Working Journalists (IFWJ) here, Mr Kamat maintained that his government ''is firmly in the saddle''.

He said he had already proved majority in the House by voice vote on the directives of the Governor on July 30 with no Opposition member seeking a division of the votes.

Prominent among those present on the occasion included Finance Minister Dayanand Narvekar, IFWJ president K Vikram Rao, secretary general Paramanand Pandey, and new Wage Board members Prasanna Kumar and Umashankar Mishra.

Vowing to work for the cause of the common man, he urged journalists to work for development through positive journalism, without projecting negative image of the country.

''Work with a patriotic feeling and project the news in the right perspective without harming the nation and its image. Play a constructive role and not a destructive role in the media,'' Mr Kamat told the journalists.

The Chief Minister said the media had every right to warn the government if the latter was going wrong and call a spade a spade at a time when the country was ''leapfrogging to become a super power by the year 2020''. He also enumerated various welfare schemes for the Goan journalists such as pension fund and scheme for journalists in distress now underway.

Asked whether the government was planning to open ''on-shore casinos'' also in Goa, Mr Kamat justified the liberal issue of licences to ''off-shore'' casinos with the government getting huge revenue including Rs 5 crore fee per annum.

With Goa being one of the top five international tourist destinations and foreigners visiting the state in large numbers, there was no wrong in meeting their demand for opening casinos where they spend money gambling in the ships off shore, he said.

Regarding land grabbing episodes, he said the government was firm in checking such instances. He also maintained that the government was committed to developing both Konkani and Marathi languages without any discrimination.

Mr Kamat pointed out that iron ore mining has been the backbone of Goan economy since Portuguese rule and Goa accounted for over 50 per cent exports from India, most of which is low grade ore with below 60 per cent iron content, he said.

Goa, Mr Kamat said, has all the ingredients of becoming a model state for emulation by others in the country, but for some political aberrations now and then.

The IFWJ, meanwhile, urged the government to enforce various welfare schemes for journalists as was being implemented in different states, and also ensure implementation of the wage board awards.

The IFWJ maintained that Goa was one of the few states implementing wage board scales for media personnel with the anti-employee system of appointing journalists on contract system on the rise across the country these days.

UNI