BJP urges Goa Governor not to give assent to Pension bill Panaji: Former Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar has urged Governor S C Jamir not to sign the Pension Amendment bill, recently passed by the Goa Assembly, that seeks to provide legislators with higher pension than their salaries.
''The bill is illegal, immoral and irregular, and, if acceded, would place a heavy burden on the exchequer,'' Mr Parrikar told reporters here today. It will be opposed and, if necessary, challenged in the courts, he added. Accusing the Pratapsinh Rane government of being ''insensitive to the needs of the citizens'', Mr Parrikar said the government had failed to evolve a permanent solution to the garbage disposal problem that had led to health hazards with a college girl dying of dengue in Mapusa. Mr Parrikar also warned the government against scuttling the pre-employment scheme initiated during his regime. How can the Rane government employ people directly without even maintaining the rosters of reservations for the last 15 years, he queried. He also demanded that the government release within a fortnight the Justice Pendse Commission report on the Rs 117-crore irregularity in the Economic Development Corporation (EDC).