This Christmas, let us step back from ideal broad visions of Goa, which all sound perfect and achievable and look at the institutions of governance, local self governance, which are expected to deliver the basics for the people of Goa. If there is a Christmas gift Goans want, it is this – our day-to-day lives which involve an interface with the government should become smoother.
From registering a car, to getting a license, to registering births and deaths, to getting rations from the PDS, to getting a BSNL phone repaired, to paying house tax and so on and so forth, there is a struggle even today. Agents and touts dominate the space in RTO, car registrations amounts are still accepted in cash, PDS shops in interior villages are shut on most occasions, doctors are not always available in Primary Health Centers in very remote locations.
The inherent lack of delivery of local governance in areas untouched by roads and other forms of civilization is a malaise, which several governments over the years had borne but not treated. Or else why would we have villages in Satarri or Bicholim which have not seen schools or electricity or roads, for over fifty years and more?
While there is a viable argument that this is work in progress now and the results of government initiatives will be visible in after months, the garbage of towns and villages need segregation and treatment.
At the same time our towns need organised parking, free space for pedestrian movement and a transport system which allows us to take buses much more frequently.
The same strain of the system cracking at its seams is visible when villages and towns, including Goa’s main cites haven’t been able put together a foolproof system of segregated garbage collection.
There are two challengers here. The administrative machinery needs to look at infrastructure first as a means to improve and make the day-to-day lives of the people of Goa more efficient. The Zuari and Mandovi bridges are needed but the bridges of connectivity and development from the roads to the interior villages and improving the basic infrastructure in towns, is far more vital.
Above all, the concept of participative planning must be infused in the system. The Gram Sabha resolutions passed religiously need to be studied and analysed and responded to by the government. Any resolution which is not palatable to the government is allowed to lie there. Gram Sabha resolutions must pass the test of merit and practicality and if so, must be acted upon so that they don’t remain just resolutions but become actionable.
Most importantly the Regional Plans and the ODPs have to be transparent and the changes planned and proposed which are different from the village level plans need to go back to the people.
The original idea of taking everything back to the people is really non-negotiable and is the only way in which participative planning can be achieved.
So this Christmas, let us wish for the small things which are indeed the big things. Let us wish and demand that day-to-day lives get better, our villages and cities are more livable and decisions are no longer thrust down in a bottom down approach.
