The government is perceived as an accused in land conversion matters. There are accusations against the government of encouraging illegal activities regarding railway double tracking. The fishermen are awaiting compensation. The involvement of government elements in land grabbing cases have been exposed to a great extent. Except for not taking loans from the securities market in recent times, the government’s performance on the rest of the fronts has been average.
While dreaming to make the capital city of Panjim into a smart city, it has been reduced into a poorly planned city. The government’s attempt to control the damage by sacking government officials has failed. The delay in monsoon is the only reason Panjim locals have stayed safe from sewage and waste water logging so far. The government is not able to tell when the city’s pride, the iconic structure of Kala Academy, will be open to the general public. While the authorities have been busy advertising that they are providing free pulses for the poor, the scam related to maggot infested ration has got exposed. Trucks were caught while transporting the pulses out of the State.
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The government has had to issue notice to take back the subsidies for farmers under the Kisan Mitra scheme. So unfortunate is the picture. There is no sign of any control on inflation. The government’s efforts to control inflation does not go beyond increasing the dearness allowance of govt servants. The failure in controlling the crime rate is felt considerably too. Hence, more than contemplation, the functioning of government is worrisome. In fact, at such times the need for the government to have a ‘Chintan Shivir’ should not have arisen.
The government procedures do not change even if the politicians do. Therefore, the review and planning should happen naturally and for that, the government should constantly communicate with the general public. As a part of the national programme, the ruling BJP leaders go house to house and distribute informative booklets. Such ostentatiousness should be kept aside and more focus should be given on hearing and acting on people’s grievances and aspirations. The government should be able to gauge in advance what would be the reaction from the people regarding a particular decision. Succeeding in elections and being able to provide good administration are two vastly different things. The ones to vote aren’t always happy with the way the government is being run. The State Cabinet works on the behalf of people of the State and stands as a symbol of collective responsibility. Hence, it is obvious to expect them to fulfil people’s wishes. Administration or management is a dynamic science.
After Goa’s Liberation, the administrative procedures implemented by the British in India were adopted in Goa as well. If the administrative structure laid by the British has suffered damages here and there and if it seems not effective enough, then there is nothing surprising. If a road is made of cement and no attention is paid to the maintenance, then it has to be rebuilt after 40 to 60 years as it naturally wear off with age. The point is, regardless of the system, it requires repairs, amendments and reconstruction after a particular period of time. It has not been done in the last fifty years since Goa’s Liberation and there is a question of whether the current administration is capable of doing it. Hence if the government wants to contemplate, it should focus on how to implement people-oriented administration. It is possible for the government to make changes from time to time.
The angst expressed by the public during programmes such as ‘Prashaasan Tumchya Daari’ cannot be ignored. The complaints regarding difficulties faced by people have come like heavy monsoon showers, whenever the ministers have attempted to meet the public. This shows that there is no system effective enough to resolve people’s issues even today.
Take for instance what happens when a person files a complaint. The complaint has to be first registered. Then it has to be processed and after due discussion, a decision has to be taken. The applicant has to be given an acknowledgement and a reply. This whole process takes about fifteen days per complaint. This is the experience which emanates from government offices which is time consuming. This however does not mean that that complaints have to be thrust into the garbage bins. They have to be acted upon, the problems sorted out and the system has to be changed to meet the aspirations of the people. Govt officials should be given counselling to effect changes and be sensitive to the needs of the people. This is an ongoing process which, if it had been implemented, the time would not have come to contemplate. Rather one would have been pushed into action.
