The government has said that it will spend Rs 100 crore on village panchayats and municipal councils from this Rs 300 crore. This, however, comes with the rider that panchayats will have to submit a report on the ten-point programme to accomplish the objectives of Swayampurna Goa and proposals with special projects, for which grants up to Rs 50 lakh to each panchayat would be given. The deadline for the special projects is February 28, as the government wants to grant administrative clearance to the projects at the earliest so that these can be inaugurated on Liberation Day, December 19 this year.
Giving this deadline for projects is an excellent move by the government as panchayats in Goa are not known to work speedily. The promise of a Rs 50 lakh grant may spur the village bodies to hasten their pace of work and get their proposals to the government for approval. The second deadline of completing these projects by this year-end so that they can be inaugurated by December 19 is another good initiative, as there are too many instances of projects being approved, commenced and then delayed, resulting in costs escalating that have to be borne by the people’s taxes. The moot point here is whether village panchayats will deliver and have their proposals ready within the fortnight that they have been given. Reports, as revealed, have already come in from a majority of the panchayats, though a few remain to finalise their plans.
What the government is looking at is innovative projects that are in the larger interest of the village and people, which have been listed as panchayat ghar, community hall, crematorium, market. Though these can hardly be described as innovative and are more of a necessity in every village, shouldn’t the stress be on some out-of-the-box thinking? The 60th Liberation Year grants, if they are being utilised to bring about a change in the lives of the people at the grassroots, should give them more than just the necessities that should have come years earlier. It is a sad commentary on the successive governments that six decades after Liberation the government of Goa has to rely on the Liberation Day grants from the Centre to create such facilities as panchyat ghars, crematorium and markets for the people.
The 60th Liberation Year grant should not be spent on panchayat ghars. There are other funds for that. The government should give more weightage to projects that are people-centric and that are original, rather than ordinary in nature. This will not only ensure the utilisation of the funds for exciting projects but force the panchayats to come up with idea that are captivating in nature. Frankly, hardly anyone remembers the projects that were undertaken by the local bodies with the Golden Jubilee grants that came in 2011. This should not be a repeat of what occurred then. The State has had a full decade to improve since then.
This is how Rs 100 crore of the Rs 300 crore is going to be utilised. What about the balance Rs 200 crore? That too needs to be employed on some novel project or projects that also have the potential of earning revenue for the State. It would be a pity if the grants were poured into white elephants or projects that will not give any returns. There are times that even the government should look at business models and this perhaps is one of them, where a project is conceived that will not only be a tribute to the anniversary, but also bring returns to the State.
