SATURDAY, APRIL 20, 2024
Revenue Minister Atanasio (Babush) Monserrate has come up with a technological solution to speed up the functioning of the offices of the Revenue Department. He has decided to install closed circuit television cameras in all Revenue Department offices with the monitors in the offices of the Revenue Minister (himself) and Secretary to enable the latter two to monitor the functioning of the offices. This, he hopes, will speed up the disposal of pending cases in the department and also permit him and the Secretary to note for themselves how the department functions. He went on to say that he and the Secretary should know not just how the department functioning works but whether the department is functioning or not.
The last is a clear indication that he is not satisfied with the performance of this department and wants to bring about a positive change. The remark of whether the department is functioning or not is a scathing criticism of its performance, which by itself should make the staff want to increase productivity. The efficacy of the system, however, will depend on many factors, mainly the monitoring of the footage that is collected. Merely installing the CCTV cameras will not help, it will only result in a publicity exercise. Its efficacy will be seen if there is a marked improvement in the working of the department. Here, the monitoring and analysis of the footage will play a large role in making the system effective. It, therefore, calls for some rules in monitoring the footage so that it is expertly analysed and not misused.
Goa is already utilising CCTV cameras as a public surveillance tool mainly to prevent crime and reduce traffic transgressions, so extending the system to government departments is not a novel idea. Besides, the private sector too does take the aid of such a monitoring system to keep a check on its employees. It should, however, not be seen as merely a surveillance system to keep tabs on government staff. Such an arrangement can have other uses, whereby new procedures for dealing with certain issues that arise can be implemented by observing how different staffers deal with the same issue in a different manner and then promote the best one.
If CCTV cameras in government offices being monitored by the concerned minister and secretary will improve functioning of government staff, then a similar system should be followed across all government departments. Once the CCTV monitors are installed in offices of Revenue Department, the government should review the monitoring system and if it brings results in the form of increased efficiency, should consider extending it across all its departments. It will also bring about some measure of transparency in the department’s functioning. This could be expanded to also reduce the number of agents who have created an ecosystem of their own whereby the common man is sometimes unable to access certain government services without the paid assistance of the agents.
A move such as proposed by the Revenue Minister could vastly benefit the people by improving the functioning of the government departments and if proven effective should be extended across government offices. If there is a matter of cost involved, then it will be a small price to pay for better services to the people. Depending on the results of how the system works in the Revenue Department – and here we assume that the CCTVs will actually be installed and monitored and that this is not to be a mere announcement – the government must take a decision on whether it is helping improve its staff performance and accordingly make it mandatory in departments, especially those that deal directly with the people.
