Panaji, Jul 4 (IANS): Referring to the statement of Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant that Assembly Records were destroyed while shifting from old secretariat (age-old Adil Shah Palace in Panaji) to new assembly complex at Porvorim in 2000, the Congress on Monday submitted a memorandum to Speaker Ramesh Tawadkar demanding a probe into the incident.
"When I became the Speaker of Goa assembly, I came to know that these records (from 1963 to 2000) were destroyed. I wanted to preserve them. But they were destroyed. I am sorry, this should not have happened. Now since 2000 we are preserving and digitising the same," Sawant had recently said.
The memorandum signed by all eleven Congress MLAs has been handed over to Speaker by Deputy CLP Leader Sankalp Amonkar, Working President Yuri Alemao and Quepem MLA Altone D'Costa.
"The Chief Minister has stated that the records from 1963 to 2000 were destroyed during the shifting of Assembly. Subsequently, we have read some media reports in which first the Legislative Secretary and thereafter the Hon'ble Speaker have refuted the claim made by the Chief Minister. But the Chief Minister has not given any clarification," the memorandum stated.
"It is pertinent to do the fact finding on the exact intention of the Chief Minister who also held the position of the Speaker from 2017 to 2019. There are apprehensions in the minds of citizens on the safety and security of the Assembly Proceeding Records which are of paramount importance for posterity. There is fear in the minds of the people that the Assembly Records may be destroyed in an attempt to twist the historical milestones of the state," it further said.
The Congress has appealed to the Speaker to constitute a House Committee, giving equal representation to all the members of the Assembly, to investigate the real intention behind the statement of the Chief Minister.
"We also urge you to file a complaint before the appropriate competent authority to start an inquiry on the same," the Congress said in the memorandum.
Congress MLAs have said that they will raise the issue in the upcoming Assembly session.