Pramod Sawant says no new social security schemes for now

Pramod Sawant

Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant said during his tenure as the chief minister, the stress would be on making individuals "sustainable" rather than make them dependent on government doles.

The Chief Minister clarified that the social welfare schemes, introduced by his predecessor, the later Manohar Parrikar, would not be discontinued. "All the schemes that were introduced by the Manohar Parrikar-led government will continue. Parrikar had also stressed on creation of infrastructure as the focus for development.

"I would like to add to it aspect of human development," Sawant told PTI in an interview Thursday. "You cannot achieve human development by giving them social welfare schemes. "We need to implement the ideas of human development and take care of a person right from his education to employment.

For that, we need to formulate schemes which will facilitate this," he said. Sawant (46), who took charge two months ago following the demise of Parrikar, said there is a need to change the way some people look at state-sponsored welfare schemes.

"When you offer several social welfare schemes, sometimes, some people feel it is their right to get things free of cost from the government. "Schemes in the social sector have been considered as monthly payment by some of the people," he said, adding senior citizens and widows are rightful beneficiaries of such schemes. "We need to bring everyone at a level of self-sustainability.

There will be no more additional social welfare schemes as we have already introduced so many of them," Sawant said. Nearly half a dozen welfare schemes, targetted at different sections of the society, are in existence since 2012 when the BJP came to power. They are mostly for the girl child, widows, senior citizens and housewives.

The BJP leader said his government would provide governance that aims to touch life of the people of rural Goa. "Several times, when I go through different files, I see what Manohar Parrikar has done about an issue. "But that does not mean I would repeat the same thing. I will introduce new ideas," he said.

Sawant said his government will be rural-centric. "Basically, I belong to rural Goa and I have been with the most common people of the state. I always think what would be the impact of my steps on the life of these people. "Parrikar was a tall leader, so people were hesitant to express themselves in front of him, but people express to me. I will consider people's view," he added. Responding to a question, Sawant said his government will not roll-back any of the decisions taken by the Parrikar government, but will further work on them to ensure their benefits reach the common people.

"I will see whether there is the real benefit of the schemes to the people and how much it is impacting the treasury of the state. All these aspects would be considered," he said.

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