It takes humongous guts to write to the Chief Minister and that too against the government. The CEO and former investment banker Vishal Prakash, who was appointed about a year and month ago (August 2018), resigned on September 10 this year citing reasons that he had “been bogged down by same red-tapism that businesses complains about”. What is more shocking to see in the letter is that he was not been paid his due salary since January this year as there was a “dispute” on the payment of GST on his contract fee.

In fact, before joining the post, the CEO was assured by the then Chief Minister that he will be introduced to Goa in all party and all department meetings which never happened due to unfortunate circumstances of Manohar Parrikar falling ill. This certainly led the “newcomer” bewildered with a thought of where to begin with. Obviously there was a lack of trust between the IPB and different government departments which led to skeletal sharing of data. The feeling one gets that a department “owns” the data and will only share when a superior directs the department. Subsequently, the job of IPB CEO got reduced to a profile of lower division clerk which only meant moving files physically from one department to the other. Even travel outside the state was “restricted” as it had to be approved by layers of bureaucracy.

Industry and investors who are putting their money will never wait for the lackadaisical approach to simple matters like provision of land, electricity and water. In fact, IPB was, and is, supposed to be a single window for all investors in the State who are willing to invest more than Rs five crore in a land of 3000 square meter or more. However, with the changes made in the Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) definition in May last year, the IPB Act needs to be revisited to make it more contemporary and progressive. A mere lip service and on the ground the toothless IPB would lead this body as “file pusher” and certainly not a single window system which was intended to be. In fact, the industry feels that IPB has become an additional window.

With this as a backgrounder,  it will not be easy for a new incumbent as the minimum qualification for a CEO according to the Government of Goa official gazette dated September 16, 2014 mentions that a person who will be appointed as CEO shall possess a post-graduate degree in business administration or economics or law or political science or in other relevant areas; not less than ten years experience in a senior executive position in business or manufacturing or private banking or marketing or sales; excellent knowledge of the private sector undertakings in the State; excellent public relations; and strong business orientation and proven experience in managing and motivating multidisciplinary teams of professionals. According to this gazette notification, only a senior person would qualify for the same, even if one belongs to the field of bureaucracy.

Industry also feels that no investor knows whether IPB is a compulsory or an optional body to go through. Government needs to crack a whip and become vibrant and proactive to work on war-footing to clean up the mess, which includes quality of roads and infrastructure in the State. Such negative display to systems towards the industry also heavily impacts the ease of doing business.

States like Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Haryana, etc have understood the game and are very vigilant and helpful to any investors who show their inclination to step in their respective states. It is being done only because they feel that any investment in their State will bring about more jobs in the State apart from the revenue that they will generate. After the mining ban and the revenue of the State dipping, and low-level jobs which are hardly available now, it is almost mandatory for Goa to look into such avenues.

The observations made in the resignation letter of the CEO of IPB are serious and the State government should realise its implication as the cat is out of the bag and this message will spread across the industry which is not very welcoming. It will also dissuade a new person to apply for the same job unless and until all ills in the system are washed away. This can only be done by immediate direct intervention of the Chief Minister to set things right.