Is Goa looking at the beginning of a positive change in making government servant accountable? The new government has ordered the suspension of two Public Works Department engineers for substandard work of the Chorla Ghat and also sought to hold an inquiry into the works of major roads sanctioned during the last three years after initiating a fact finding inquiry. The inquiry on other major road works is interesting as the government had sanctioned several in the past three years and as the order says, there is every possibility such instances might have occurred during the execution of other roads. It doesn’t stop there but a third party inquiry has also been ordered on the work of the contractor.
This is a welcome measure taken by the chief minister and should galvanise the bureaucracy to be responsive and responsible. The message from inquiry order appears to be that substandard work will not be tolerated. If so, this is a strong message being sent out and it should not be restricted merely to road works. The inquiry should be a beginning in making government employees across all departments accountable for the works undertaken under their supervision. The complacency that has set in among government employees has to be dispelled and replaced with responsibility where they take ownership of the task allotted and get it to fruition.
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This perhaps is the best time to make a change as not only does Goa have a new government in place, top bureaucrats too have come in recently. In February a new chief secretary took charge, in March a new government and in April a new Director General of Police. If this does not bode well for a revamp in the system, then there is no hope that it can ever show positive change. So don’t let inquiries be only on projects of the PWD, but include all departments and all tasks where there are allegations or indications of any corruption. Even where delays with dealing with people or issuing certificates are concerned, let this be the practice of government taking action. It may not require inquiries and suspensions, but some action will bring about the change.
Good governance can be brought about with efficiency in government service. When there are statements made of transparency and accountability in government, the only way in which it can be achieved is by bringing in systems that will transform the manner in which government servants work. Every government that takes office makes this promise. New ministers are known to make surprise visits to the departments of which they hold charge. But such acts are only seen in the early days of the government. Though it is a new government, the order of an inquiry cannot be termed as a witch hunt, for the chief minister continues and the works were commissioned during his previous term, it is the then PWD minister who is no longer in office having lost the elections.
In the current instance it is road conditions that are under the scanner. Motorists will vouch for the fact that there are several roads in Goa that can be classified as substandard and need to be improved. But that is not a professional opinion. The inquiry that is to report back in 45 days could possibly come up with many examples of road works that are not up to the standard. What happens then? Will action be taken on the engineers involved? The ultimate aim must be the delivery of high quality public services where citizens and business have no need to complain or wait inordinately for their tasks to be completed. It can also be brought about through some internal monitoring of employee productivity with evaluation of performance annually.
