SATURDAY, MAY 04, 2024
Alexandre Moniz Barbosa
The XV Finance Commission that has recommended Goa receive Rs 16,307 crore over the next five years ending in 2025-26, as part of the State’s share in Central taxes and duties, has complimented the State for several achievements. Highlighting the State’s low dependency on Central transfers that in 2018-19 constituted less than 33 per cent of Goa’s Total Rate of Return (TRR) when the average is 44 per cent, it also noted that the State achieved the highest non-tax revenue to GSDP ratio amongst all States consistently from 2011–12 to 2016–17, which the commission said indicates greater reliance on the State’s own resources, recommending that this trend continues. It was also complimentary of the State achieving the highest per capita GSDP across all States consistently from 2011–12 to 2018–19 and again recommended that the State continue to implement policies which sustain this trend.
While this is indeed praiseworthy for Goa, none of this means that the State’s finances are completely out of the red. The government has just sought a special financial grant from the Centre for tourism promotion to rebuild the industry that has taken a beating due to the COVID-19 pandemic and a minister in the government has admitted that the hike in Value Added Tax on fuel is because ‘money has to come from somewhere for development, schemes, salaries, pensions’. It is not that we were not aware of this, but the statement is confirmation of what was known. Yet, if Goa is indeed relying more on its own resources, the State would not be seeking such grants and increasing VAT.
The CAG report that was recently tabled in the Legislative Assembly was quite critical of the government’s revenue expenditure statements. The State, if it intends to keep it accounts balanced, will have to cut back on the borrowing and increase its revenue, that at the current time is very low. The government has a lot of work to do and a huge amount of adjustments in its revenue and expenditure accounts to keep the State afloat financially. The Rs 16,307 crore that the Finance Commission has recommended over next five years should help immensely.
Significantly, as per the XV Finance Commission report, Goa is a front-runner in a few sustainable development goals, and those enumerated by the Commission are ‘Zero Hunger’, ‘Decent Work and Economic Growth’, ‘Sustainable Cities and Communities’, ‘Life on Land’, ‘Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions’. The commission again, suggests that the State continue to implement policy action that leads to such enhanced social outcomes. Naturally it should, and simultaneously also attempt to become a leader in other sustainable development goals. Yet, this may not be any great achievement.
As per the report, Goa was ranked 7th among Indian States according to the SDG India Index and Dashboard, 2019–20 of the NITI Aayog. It went on to mention that the State had achieved the lowest poverty rate of 5.1 per cent amongst all States in 2011–12, compared to all India poverty rate of 21.9 per cent in the same year (Tendulkar methodology).
As identified by the United Nations there are 17 such goals, and Goa has excelled, going by the latest Finance Commission report, in five. That leaves 12 other sustainable development goals for the State to aim to excel at. The dozen sustainable development goals, other than those at which Goa has been deemed a ‘frontrunner’ in are: ‘No Poverty’, ‘Good Health and Well-being’, ‘Quality Education’, ‘Gender Equality’, ‘Clean Water and Sanitation’, ‘Affordable and Clean Energy’, ‘Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure’, ‘Reduced Inequality’, ‘Responsible Consumption and Production’, ‘Climate Action’, ‘Life Below Water’, ‘Partnerships to Achieve the Goal’. In February last year, a report had stated that Goa had improved its performance as a frontrunner in the SDG India Index 2019-20 from being a ‘performer’. The State had secured first position in ‘Zero Hunger’ and ‘Sustainable Cities and Communities’ and was a frontrunner with respect to ‘Quality Education’, ‘Clean Water and Sanitation’, ‘Affordable and Clean Energy’, ‘Decent Work and Economic Growth’, ‘Life on land’ and ‘Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions’.
It is obvious from the above that there exist a number of sustainable development goals that remain yet to be achieved by the State, or where the State is still far behind. Where ‘Climate Action’ is concerned, the Finance Commission, on the request of the government has recommended Rs 500 crore for Goa. The onus would be on the State to now utilise this money in a manner that it meets the sustainable goals as envisaged. Another of the sustainable development goals that the State has to act on is ‘Clean Water and Sanitation’. Goa’s hurry to meet the Open Defecation Free target in 2019 by installing temporary toilets is still fresh in memory. Besides, the har ghar jal achievement of being the first State in the country to have a tap in every household, that was claimed last year, also comes under a cloud. This announcement of ‘har ghar jal’ had already been questioned by the opposition. The gap between the paper work and the practical reality appears to be wide.
Yet, Goa can take solace that its performance is better than many other States. It is obvious that with its small size and manageable population, the State is able to perform better than other States. What it has to do is keep this up in the coming years and improve upon it. Achieving targets is what this is all about. While Goa stands better than the national average in various areas, there is still a long journey before it can take the lead across the board. The State should focus on climate action and meeting the water needs of the people, as these are two areas that are inter-related and where Goa has the resources to achieve targets. With an annual rainfall of around 100 inches and its many rivers and water bodies, it should be a front-runner in this area too. All it requires are the right policies.
Alexandre Moniz Barbosa is Editor, Herald. He tweets at @monizbarbosa
