The expectation of the common man has always been that a BJP government will uphold the values of democracy, be more transparent and the level of corruption will be less. However, some of the recent incidents in Goa point exactly in the opposite direction. In the case of the six ministers of the Goa cabinet making plans to go to Brazil to see the FIFA World Cup at the cost of the State exchequer, there was sheer vindictiveness in trying to find out who leaked the information to the media and there were comments that heads would roll within the concerned department.
One has to ask if information is given out which satisfies the criteria of public interest and particularly in this case where huge amounts were being spent with no purpose but to see the football matches, should we not commend the concerned officials for bringing the matter into the open.
There is a whistleblower bill remember which at least on paper encourages government employees to speak out. The corruption aspect in this case is that the CM would have known about the proposal since obviously apart from the financial sanction, the fact of six ministers being out of the country at the same time for a longish period and that too before an upcoming Assembly session could not be missed by him. Thus if the CM gave implicit sanction to this jaunt then is he not liable to the charge of a corruption of principles by pandering to the whims of this coterie of ministers. The ministers who finally went to Brazil have come back but there is no information if they have made good the money to the government.
Additionally the media had carried the news that a prominent Goan industrial house was likely to foot the bill for the jaunt which is surely corruption. Then take the case of the Tourism Department spending in the region of excess of Rs 10 crores and more to promote Goa over the last three years. The BJP has strongly come out against junketing abroad when the UPA had been in power and their own government on Goa resorts to the same practice. Here again the CM cannot shy away from the responsibility of not exercising proper control over his ministers.
Turning a blind eye on obvious misdeeds like Manmohan Singh did in the 2G case, the CWG scam and Coalgate is a crime then the CM should be held accountable for the wasteful spending by the Tourism Department. The BJP and the Congress cannot have two different standards on similar matters. Remember acts of omission are as much culpable as acts of commission. In terms of muzzling democracy, there are numerous instances like wanting to bring a law to stop compulsive litigants, of not having tiatrists attack ministers and pushing through projects on the sly.
