Charity begins at home!
Plastino D’Costa
If at all some Bollywood script writer writes a dialogue which mentions that Goa is one of the world’s biggest homes for the aged, the first person to take offence will be among some of those at the helm. Little do we realize, that when we lose our ability to see ourselves in the mirror, it becomes all the more important we start paying attention to people who are willing to tell us the truth to our face, even if it hurts.
Successive Goan governments competing to be more charitable than the other, have always dished out dole money in order to mask their inefficiencies or distract its citizens. One of the schemes is the Dayanand Social Security Scheme that will eventually make Goa the biggest home for the aged, if not one already. Promoted by the Government of Goa, Department of Social Welfare, as part of their initiative under “freedom from hunger”, at least that is what their website says; this scheme has slowly turned out to be a free-for-all scam, with its original purpose long been forgotten. A scheme that was probably intended for the elderly citizens of the poorer neglected areas such as Sattari, is now being availed by the sophisticated elderly citizens of relatively affluent areas of Salcete.
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Vague rules of qualification, that are intentionally not advertised in black and white and mostly concealed in the fine print by the government, have allowed politicians, their agents and so-called intellectuals to coax ignorant citizens to apply and avail of this scheme. The scheme today is unable to differentiate between someone living in a hut or a mansion, everybody has joined the party. Successive governments in their enthusiasm to keep their citizens cheerful have mostly overlooked illegal applications, similar to the previous regime overlooking illegal mining and allowing everybody to dig in.
The present government seems to have shown interest in making some things right, and have made noises of strict action on fraudulent applicants. However, they must take cognizance of the fact that most applicants have been lured by cunning politicians or their representatives by taking advantage of the applicant’s ignorance. Most applicants are made to sign blindly on papers even if it means signing fraudulent affidavits or income certificates that are submitted with the application. Adding to this is the Goan obsession to take advantage of loopholes, the more the rules get vague the more they are penetrated. After all an intelligent and resourceful person in the eyes of many Goans, is the one that can infiltrate and manipulate the government systems and get the work done.
The present chief minister is a sensitive person and might have started this scheme in his early tenure with good intentions, but he should also remember there are consequences. Goans will have to face Generation Next. The mandate given to him is to use Goan money in a judicious manner and not to throw it at people at the slightest problem Goans face.
