Cong seeks Goa CM's apology on reduction in culture dept spend

The Congress on Saturday demanded an apology from Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant on his statement that the state government would slash budgetary allocation for the Art and Culture department to help the economy in view of the COVID-19 crisis.

"Sawant must immediately withdraw his statement and apologise to the artists' community of Goa. It is unfortunate that the chief minister did not utter a word about the hard times faced by various artists in Goa after the lockdown was announced (on March 24).

"All the programs, dramas, concerts, weddings etc got cancelled which has rendered thousands of artists jobless. The future of artists is bleak as no one knows when this pandemic will come to an end," said Goa Pradesh Congress Committee spokesman Siddhanath Buyao.

Buyao said the CM should first check "wasteful expenditure and corruption" in the PWD, Tourism, Sports, Garbage Management and other departments before imposing restrictions on cultural activities.