It all arose because the Traffic Police believed that the condition of the roads would not provide a smooth ride for the VIPs that are descending upon the State to campaign for the February 14 polls. The PWD, otherwise always lethargic, jumped into action, displaying an alacrity that is seldom seen in government departments. Such works are seldom undertaken when the election code of conduct is on, but this, we infer is a different matter altogether as it involves VIPs.
There are two issues here: the first stems from the assurance that had been given by the Chief Minister that all potholes on the roads of the State would be repaired by November 1, 2021. In the post-monsoon period, road contractors had been allocated the job and a hasty patchwork had been undertaken, critiqued right at that time itself by the people as it was a substandard job that would soon result in potholes appearing again. The potholes did surface on the roads, vindicating what the people were saying and exposing the shoddy work undertaken by the various government departments and the lack of supervision and quality control by the authorities. For them it was enough that the work was undertaken, it didn’t matter whether the reapirs were or a permanent nature of mere patchwork to meet a deadline that the government has set for itself.
The quick manner in which the Police and the PWD have acted over the matter indicates that government departments can be concerned about facilities and services and work to create a better life for the people, but they will do it only when there are VIPs coming to visit, not at other times. What this really indicates is that the people just do not matter to the government. The common man is not important, only the VIPs are and for them the government will willingly go the extra mile. Even now, the repairs that are being undertaken are on the roads where the VIP convoys will travel, not on the other roads in the State, a clear indication that the common man does not matter.
It is now absolutely clear that there were potholes that were not repaired or that if they were, it was a very shoddy job that was done only to prove that the deadline of November 1 had been met. Who was responsible for this? Can those who undertook the repairs in October last year and those in the government department responsible for quality control be taken to task over this? It is only when responsibility is placed on government officials, that there will be some positive change in the delivery of services. A system has to be set up to make government official accountable for the task they have been given.
In the light of the quick work undertaken for the VIP visits, the message that is going out loudly and clearly just days before the election is that the common man’s travails are not the concern of the authorities. The VIPs are by the nomenclature important, the people are not, this is being stressed in the current instance. Unless this attitude changes, Goa will see no improvement in governance and in the quality of the services that the government provides. An attitudinal change can come about only if the government awakens the bureaucracy to the fact that they are servants of the public. The change for a smooth ride has to come from the administration, otherwise it will forever remain potholed.
