TEAM HERALD
PANJIM: The government Tuesday said that it was keen on implementing the State Surveillance Project in Goa especially by stepping up safety at tourist places, schools and clamping down on traffic violations along highways and city routes.
Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar told the Goa Assembly on Tuesday that several proposals are before the government and it would float Expressions of Interest or RFQs within the next two months to select a suitable agency to implement the same in the State.
Parrikar however said that while installing CCTVs and cameras, that monitoring the same was more important or else it would defeat the purpose of introducing surveillance systems.
He said that the pilot projects introduced in Panjim and Margao have been successful in detecting traffic violations and challans are being issued based on recorded camera footage.
The chief minister said that he was looking at options where the government does not have to spend on the systems but instead generate revenue especially in the case of traffic violations.
He agreed to recommendations from legislators Michael Lobo and Subhash Phaldesai who insisted on introduction of the surveillance systems for tourist places and schools.
“The government will ask for special grants for this purpose from the 14th Finance commission which will be meeting this month end,” Parrikar said. He however ridiculed a suggestion from Porvorim MLA Rohan Khaunte to install CCTVs in government offices to ensure zero tolerance to corruption.
While Khaunte tried to impress on the government to keep a watch on government staff allegedly taking bribes from the common-man for issuing certificates and other matters, Parrikar said, “This matter will be taken care of by the Public Service Guarantee Act which will be implemented by December.”
Parrikar agreed that due to threat perceptions, the surveillance systems were required in tourist places like Calangute, Baga, Mandrem and for shacks. He said it would take time to put the systems in place and the government would make efforts to start the initiative before the financial year ends.
The plan is to have the state wide surveillance systems at all major roads and junctions, public places and places of strategic importance to crack down on terrorist and criminal activities, increase safety and security and enforce administrative efficiency.
