Clarity and transparency, these two words should be the mantra of the State government on every new project or proposal. The opposition to the coal hub, the opposition to the nationalisation of rivers, the opposition to the airport at Mopa are all because the people fear that there are issues within these projects that could be detrimental to the State – its environment, its ecology, its culture, its heritage and in some cases even its identity. People don’t like surprises or projects being thrust upon them, and this makes it incumbent on the government to be a lot more open to the views and feelings of the people on issues.
Governances should in reality be a partnership between the government and the people, and not just seen to be so. When the mantra is to take the government to the people, and people’s participation in the planning process is not only being promoted, but is also increasing, a reasoned argument between the two can only be beneficial to both sides.
Over the past few years the gram sabha meetings in the State have evoked a massive response from the people, and many villages have taken this route to oppose the coal transportation through their villages. The heightened awareness among the people of what they want for the village underlines how alert the people have become and how responsive they are to situations.
While some may see the constant protests, or the resolutions at gram sabhas opposing projects, as holding up the development of the State, the opposition from the people also underlines their concerns for their wellbeing and that of the future of Goa. Take for instance the coal project, if opposition to this is because people themselves are suffering from the pollution arising from the coal transportation and so are fighting for their wellbeing, then the opposition to the river nationalisation is an effort to save the rivers of Goa from the possible environmental damage that could occur in the future. The people want checks in place before the rivers are taken over for the project.
Where the coal transportation issue is concerned they want clean air and in the river nationalisation they want transparency. This surely isn’t too much that the people of Goa are asking and should not be too difficult at task for the government to deliver on.
The Chief Minister has now said that the tripartite agreement on the nationalisation of rivers will be entered into only after taking the people into confidence. While that’s acceptable, there is no reason in delaying sharing the contents of the agreement with the people. The river nationalisation debate is not new, it has been on for a number of months, years even, and some other States have already signed such agreements. The earlier the contents of the agreement are made public, the earlier this can be set aside – either by signing it if there is no opposition or scrapping it if there is no agreement on the contents. It is far better that an agreement between the government and the people on the issue is reached at this point of time, than to have a disagreement later, after the tripartite memorandum of understanding has been signed and sealed.
In the run up to the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, the Bharatiya Janata Party had repeatedly stressed on good governance and putting the people at the centre of the development process. Here is an opportunity for the party to stand by what it had said, and give to the people what they want, by making them the centre of the development process.
