To make sure that the administration is people-oriented, the rulers have to keep a tab on the administration. Unfortunately, however, the current scenario of the State is disappointing. The government does not seem to be sensitive towards common men, their needs, their grievances and their complaints.
A woman returns to her parents’ home to spend a couple of days during festivals and cannot manage to get even two buckets of water. “Must the daughters go through the same pain for water which her parents, uncles and aunts went through?” she asked. “If we have to still search far and wide for water even after all these years then where are all those schemes?” A video of Ankita Naik asking these burning questions has gone viral on social media, but the government does not seem to care.
Many college-going youth from rural Goa are trapped in the slippery road of ganja and other illegal banned substances. One of the counsellor recorded a video of college students behind a college campus while preparing the pipe for marijuana. The counsellor did not hand over the footage to the police since the students involved are minors. However, he posted an audio recording warning the students and threatened to take action if he finds it repeated. The main question here is how such banned substances make it to the minor children.
Every alternate day the news of police nabbing drug pushers hailing from Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Karnataka and other States is flashed. The readers also see the pictures of police posing with pride behind the veiled accused. It is a fact that drugs are no longer sold along the coast, but are now are easily available even in remote villages. How can the administration be so laid back? The Chief Minister himself had confessed last year that he was shocked to see youth from Goa convicted in drug crimes and serving their sentence in the Colvale jail. But, what has been the government’s action plan to combat the issue? Nothing.
While it can only be hoped that the government will free international and domestic tourism from the tight grip of drug peddlers, the fact remains that this ‘cancer’ has already spread through the villages of Goa. This tree has to be uprooted before it spreads its roots any deeper. How much must the locals suffer? The politicians in their speeches claim they will solve the issues of the aam janata and even capitalise on two to three issues that they are able to sort out. However, the lack of control over the administrative system has given rise to public sentiment that they have no one left to look after them.
Be it the daily traffic congestion, or Panjim locals facing grave inconvenience caused by unplanned works of Smart City project, or deafening music being played by clubs, the government does not in the least pay heed to complaints from locals. While the issue of garbage has been is being hotly discussed, written about and protested against, no one is ready to tackle the issue of dumping chicken waste on the roadside in many villages in Salcete. The waste not only raises a stink but poses a risk to public health. Why is the administration not taking any action against the company which has been given the contract to pick up the waste? People will never say no to genuine development; however, isn’t it the administration’s responsibility to minimise the troubles faced by the public while carrying out these works?
Locals of Desai Nagar in Sankhali were enraged after the main water pipeline kept bursting due to the careless way of laying underground pipelines. Isn’t peoples’ rage justifiable? Naturally, the local councillor had to side with the locals and halt the work. If skilled officials or supervisors are not going to be present at the site to guide the workers, then how are unskilled workers expected to carry out the work without damaging already existing systems?
In short, there is chaos at the level of administration and the government which is busy announcing projects worth thousands of crores does not seem to care. These are very simple examples from the common man’s everyday life which may seem minor to the politicians, but cause incredible difficulties to citizens. Uncontrolled administration not only creates public sentiment of distrust towards their rulers, but also encourages corruption.
