MONDAY, APRIL 29, 2024
We have in the past been witness to the disconnect between the government and the people, but in the last few days the same is now becoming apparent between the government and the department heads and this may not be conducive to a smooth administration, which is especially required during the time of the pandemic. For instance, last week the government announced the withdrawal of the circular from the Education Department to schools asking them to pay the July salaries from their own funds. The circular had been sent because a section of the Education Department staff had been off from work due to the pandemic, and there could be a delay in releasing the salaries. This action of the government was followed by the transfer of the Education Director in what appears to be a direct outcome of this circular, as it had drawn much criticism in political and other circles.
Again, this week the Chief Minister had to publicly announce that the arogya sethu app would not be compulsory for entry into the offices of the District Collectors. This statement followed the two District Collectors issuing notices that persons who could not display the ‘You Are Safe’ status message of the Arogya Setu app on their cell phones would be barred entry into the offices. The South Goa District Collectorate had been caught in a storm on this as the order, expectedly, resulted in resentment and chaos at the Collectorate as people found themselves being denied entry into the office for failing to show the status message. Similar scenes were witnesed outside the North Goa Collectorate too the following day. However, this came with the rider that the app is not mandatory for those who do not have smart phones, while those who do would have to download the app for their safety.
Also this week, though belated, the Directorate of Panchayats issued an order restraining the village bodies from imposing unilateral lockdowns in their jurisdictions to curtain the spread of COVID-19. Panchayats across the State have been doing so quite regularly and this had led Chief Minister Dr Pramod Sawant to over a month ago state publicly that panchayats cannot take such decisions on locking down their villages. Why then did it take the department so long a time to issue this order? Couldn’t it have come earlier? In the meantime, several more panchayats had taken recourse to this measure of a lockdown that, as admitted by the Director of Panchayats in his order, ‘has caused inconvenience to the villagers as neither could they transact any business nor move out of their houses’. Since it has caused inconvenience, the department should have been more prompt in issuing this order that would stop panchayats from doing this.
While the bureaucracy and its functions can in no manner be undermined; to ensure a seamless administration there is required proper coordination between these two arms of democracy. As we know it, the government formulates the policy and the bureaucracy implements it. The bureaucrats have the duty of bringing to the attention of the government any flaws in the policies of the latter, but they cannot take decisions that would later come to be countermanded by the government. Is there no scope for dialogue between the government and bureaucracy before decisions are taken? If there isn’t then it has to be created as what is occurring indicates a complete detachment between the two arms of the State that if allowed to continue will not be healthy for democracy. All it requires is a firm government that tells the bureaucracy that it has to work within the framework of the government policies.
