PANAJI: Chief Minister Pramod Sawant announced on Thursday that “Mhajo Flat,” a scheme introduced in the state budget, will be launched within 15 days. This initiative seeks to settle a persistent legal issue affecting 30,000 to 40,000 flat owners in Goa who are currently unable to register their properties in their names.
Sawant highlighted that many flat buyers, despite having purchased their homes decades ago, lack formal ownership. Often, the land where these residential complexes are built still belongs to the original landowner, who may no longer be available or residing in Goa to sign the necessary transfer documents.
“In some instances, even buildings over 40 years old still have the land registered under the original owner, who is unable to sign the paperwork today. Meanwhile, the builder is long gone, often relocated to Mumbai. The flat owners, whose families have lived in these flats for generations, find themselves powerless,” Sawant remarked. “This situation must be addressed so that properties can be officially registered in the owners’ names.”
Under the new scheme, the registrar will handle the deemed conveyance on behalf of the landowner or builder, transferring flat ownership rights to the buyers.
At present, even when buyers have fully paid the builder for their apartments, they often remain stuck between the landowner and the builder. Typically, an agreement of sale exists between the flat purchaser and the builder; however, many still lack ownership rights or have yet to form societies for transferring ownership to flat owners.
The government aims to resolve these issues through the “Mhajo Flat” scheme and will implement the deemed conveyance plan.
This announcement was made during the inauguration of the new head office for the registrar of cooperative societies, Sahakar Seva Bhavan, in Merces. Sawant indicated that the office transition from its current rented location at the Goa State Cooperative Bank building to the newly restored site will take about a month.
The recently acquired building features 870 square meters of space over two levels, restored by the PWD at a cost of around Rs 2.4 crore.
Goa houses approximately 5,600 cooperative societies, including about 3,000 housing cooperatives and 1,450 self-help groups.
Sawant emphasized the need for greater transparency in cooperative policies and expressed that Goa has the potential to lead the country’s cooperative sector.
