Neighbouring Karnataka goes to the polls today, May 10, and this date was not decided recently. The polling on May 10 and counting of votes on May 13 was decided when the Election Commission of India had declared the entire election programme by keeping in mind the term of the Assembly.
Owing to the elections in Karnataka, the Goa government has surprisingly declared May 10 as a paid holiday for electors who reside in Goa for work. After receiving considerable criticism from industry bodies, the government in order to defend its decision had to claim that Maharashtra and Karnataka too had declared a holiday during Goa Assembly polls. It’s said that the planning of anything should be done from the bottom to the top and it is expected of the government to implement that. The government cannot run the administration by merely sitting in an ivory tower, but such is the approach. The paid holiday declared for Karnataka polls fall in this same category. The government has used its power without taking into consideration the consequences and without informing the bodies concerned.
The politically driven agenda behind this move will not stay hidden. There is nothing wrong in wanting to maximum people to vote during the polls; however, why should the self-run business owners face the brunt of the government’s mismanagement? It is not unfair to declare a paid holiday on the voting day, however, the government is expected to take such decisions with a much more sensitive approach.
Physically demanding and unskilled work in the State is done by labourers who migrate to Goa from Karnataka. All the work in the State will remain pending due to the respective one-day holiday and it seems that the government has not given this enough thought. The government has taken this decision in a rushed manner, and it was expected and required of the authorities to give prior notice to the industry bodies while keeping their own rights intact. If entrepreneurs, professionals, merchants and traders were informed in advance about the holiday through their unions, they could have properly managed work scheduled on the day. To bring raw materials into the industrial establishments and processing them requires planning.
The government is liable to answer why self-employed entrepreneurs should pay the cost of raw material going bad due to unavailability of the labourers on May 10. While some may wonder how many labourers come from Karnataka, the KTC bus services from Verna industrial estate to Karwar should answer their question. It looks like the government has no idea whatsoever regarding the losses due to unavailability of labourers.
All this could have been avoided, if the government had given prior notice to the industrial bodies, as they could have asked the labourers to put in more hours of work on some other day. They could have cancelled another holiday and replaced it with May 10. There were many alternatives available, but for that discussion was necessary. However, the approach of the government will leave the industries to face the dire consequences. Merely announcing an order does not mean that the government’s duty is over. The implementation of this order will create confusion.
Labourers work on daily wages and the government has made it mandatory for the employer to pay them their due amount on the holiday. The employers will take the stance that there was no work for labourers on May 10 and hence, they will not be paid for the day. This will prove that the government’s decision wasn’t fit for implementation. To add to the long list of confusion, there are many workers from different states apart from Karnataka who come to Goa for employment. There will be elections in those states too, so the important question is whether paid holidays will be declared during elections in those States as well? Voting strengthens democracy and hence the holiday was announced so that voters could go to their native places - this defence from the government is faulty. The political inevitability in Karnataka cannot be bigger than the requirement of manpower in Goa. The criticism towards the decision could have been avoided if it was declared after taking everyone into confidence.
Alas, one cannot expect too much from those who are actively campaigning for the Karnataka polls and keeping the neighbouring state’s best interests in mind. The government has exposed its real face by not showing enough concern over the State’s economy. The matter is not of merely declaring a holiday, but of setting a wrong precedent.