Pernem, Sept 11: The Goa government’s ambitious plan to develop a 140-crore futuristic International Convention Centre inside the Electronic Manufacturing Cluster (EMC) at Tuem has brought a long-pending and potentially explosive land dispute back into focus, with local Alvara land holders alleging that their lands were taken into possession by the Revenue Department without following due process or satisfactorily settling their rights.

 

While the government is projecting Tuem as a future destination for international conventions, electronics investment and high-technology infrastructure, affected villagers maintain that a fundamental question remains unanswered: what happened to the rights of the local Alvara holders whose lands became part of the government’s development plans?

The affected land holders claim they have repeatedly written to the government and concerned authorities seeking clarification and protection of their rights, but their representations have failed to receive a satisfactory response.

They allege that instead of resolving the matter administratively, the situation has effectively left them with only one option, approaching the courts to establish their rights over the land.

For several affected families, however, litigation is not an easy option.

According to the land holders, financial constraints prevented many of them from immediately launching prolonged legal battles against the government. Their silence, they insist, should not be interpreted as surrendering or abandoning their claims.

The episode has generated strong resentment among sections of Tuem residents, who feel they were “backstabbed by the BJP government” despite having expected the administration to protect the interests of local people while developing the EMC.

Locals Draw a Line: ‘No More Without Settling Our Rights’

With another major project now proposed within the EMC, the simmering anger appears to be resurfacing.

Affected Alvara holders have resolved that they will oppose further development affecting the disputed lands and explore legal remedies to establish their rights.

Their stand adds an entirely different dimension to the government’s latest 140-crore announcement.

For the government, the convention centre represents futuristic Goa. For some Tuem families, however, the same development landscape represents an unresolved battle over land, livelihood and legal rights.

The villagers’ central question is straightforward: Can the government continue announcing multi-crore projects on land while claims and grievances of the original local lease holders remain unresolved?

140-Crore Project, 30-Year Private Concession

The Department of Information Technology, Electronics and Communications has proposed the Goa IT International Convention Centre within the Tuem EMC on the Design, Build, Finance, Operate and Transfer (DBFOT) model.

The draft concession agreement puts the project site at approximately 23,000 sq metres, subject to the final land schedule, and fixes a CAPEX ceiling of 140 crore excluding land.

The proposed private concessionaire would get a 30-year concession period, excluding a development period of 24 months.

Plans include a roughly 2,500-capacity column-free convention hall, exhibition and event spaces, meeting rooms, boardrooms and business lounges, food and beverage facilities, coworking/business facilities, retail units, parking and EV charging.

The government’s futuristic vision also extends to smart building systems, CCTV and access control, high-density Wi-Fi, digital wayfinding and hybrid-event infrastructure. Sustainability measures envisage solar integration, rainwater harvesting, water reuse and modern waste-management systems.

Tuem EMC: An Ambition More Than a Decade Old

The latest proposal comes against the background of the EMC’s lengthy development history.

Tuem was identified more than a decade ago as the site for Goa’s ambitious electronics manufacturing hub. In June 2015, then Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar laid the foundation stone for an approach road to the proposed Electronics System Design and Manufacturing park.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi subsequently laid the foundation stone for the electronics manufacturing cluster in November 2016, alongside the Mopa greenfield airport project.

The Union Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology approved the Greenfield EMC project in March 2017, at an estimated project cost of about 161.32 crore, with Central grant-in-aid of approximately 73.77 crore.

Spread across nearly 60 hectares, the EMC was promoted as a project that would attract electronics manufacturing investment, generate employment and stimulate economic development in Pernem.

But its journey has been marked by delays.

Infrastructure, including power and water facilities, took years to materialise, while companies allotted plots faced difficulties in commencing operations. Even years after the project was sanctioned, questions continued to be raised over the pace of development.

The State has subsequently stepped up efforts to attract companies, and the IT Department has reported allotment of plots to multiple firms with substantial projected investment and employment.

But investment figures and futuristic infrastructure cannot erase the unresolved land question being raised by Tuem’s Alvara holders.

Development Versus Justice?

The controversy therefore goes beyond whether Goa needs an international convention centre.

It raises a larger question about the model of development being pursued in Pernem — a taluka that has witnessed enormous changes following Mopa airport and several associated infrastructure and investment proposals.

If villagers have legitimate subsisting rights or claims over land incorporated into government projects, those claims need to be determined transparently and according to law. Equally, the precise legal status of each Alvara holding and the government’s position require examination from the relevant land records and orders.

That distinction is important: the allegation that possession was taken without due process is presently the affected holders’ claim and should not be presented as an established judicial finding unless supported by the relevant records or a court order.

But the government cannot simply ignore the grievance because affected families lack the financial capacity to immediately litigate.

Silence born out of inability to afford a court battle cannot automatically be treated as consent.

‘First Answer Tuem, Then Talk About Futuristic Tuem’

The contrast could hardly be sharper.

On one side is a government document talking about AI-controlled utilities, digital twins, 5G, robots, smart surveillance, international exhibitions and a world-class convention centre.

On the other are local families saying they are still waiting for answers over the very land on which the larger Tuem development story has been built.

For these villagers, therefore, the issue is no longer simply compensation or development. It is about recognition of their claimed rights and what they see as a breach of trust by a government they expected to stand with them.

The latest convention-centre tender may consequently become a fresh flashpoint unless the State engages with the affected Alvara holders and publicly clarifies the legal status of the disputed lands.

The villagers have now indicated that they are prepared to fight the issue legally and will resist further activity affecting lands over which they claim rights until the dispute is addressed.

The government may have a 140-crore blueprint for a futuristic Tuem.

But before robots, AI and international conventions arrive, Tuem’s Alvara holders are demanding something far more basic an answer about their land.