Goa govt mulls law to check fraudulent sale of NRIS’ properties

PANAJI: The Goa government is mulling to frame a law to check fraudulent sales of the ancestral properties of NRIS and expatriates in the state.

Goa’s town and country planning minister Vijai Sardesai, on his return from a tour of Dubai on Sunday, told reporters near here that Goans living overseas said that at times their properties in the beach state were sold by fraudulent means without they being aware of it.

“During my visit there, I interacted with several Goans, who have listed out their problems. One of the major problems is that their ancestral properties in Goa are sold fraudulently without their information,” he said.

Many a times a person having power of attorney for a property signs the document selling it to the third party without even informing the owner, the minister said.

“When they come back here, they find that their properties are already gone,” he said.

Sardesai said the state government is contemplating to bring in a legislation during the upcoming Assembly session for providing protection to such properties from getting sold. The five-day-long Assembly session is scheduled to begin from December 13.

“We can make it compulsory for the owner to be present while the property is sold so that the person with the power of attorney cannot take an advantage,” he said.

He said an amendment will have to be made to the Registration Act to provide such a protection. There are around two lakh Goans settled in the UAE, which is a sizable number considering the population of the state, the minister said.

“These two lakh people are also our voters as they are NRIS,” said the leader of Goa Forward Party, which is an alliance partner of the ruling BJP in the state. Sardesai, who launched ‘Goa Forward for UAE’ in Dubai, said the new organisation is not a direct organ of his party but an indirect one, connecting the Goans living abroad. “The government should consider the aspirations of these people, while framing the policies, who are of Goan origin and living abroad. These people want to connect with Goa, so we will have to provide them the opportunities,” he said.

The Goa government would facilitate these people to invest in the state’s information technology sector and nonpolluting industries, he said.

The government would also promote “reverse migration” in the state, the minister said.

After UAE, the Goa Forward will also go to Canada and Australia and reach out to the Goans living there, he added.