Recently Goans living in the city of Panjim and those visiting the place, were in for a hilarious sight of government workers pruning tree branches, probably on an emergency basis, to clear off obstructing trees for the newly purchased Hop On Hop Off double decker bus to pass. The comic part was not the activity they had undertaken, but the equipment they were using. Some genius in the government had decided to use the brand new Hop On Hop Off bus itself, to get the job done, even if it meant ruining the bus itself, while chopping of those branches.
The scene is no laughing matter, because the buses procured are from the money Goans pay as taxes. Apparently the whole exercise was conducted by the Goa Tourism Development Corporation and involved the forest department, traffic police, City Corporation, Mamlatdar office and fire and emergency services. Six Government agencies with intimidating names deployed to handle a rather simple task, but unable to figure out the actual height of the trees. So they come with this brilliant plan to deploy the brand new shiny double decker bus itself to get the job done. No wonder some in the government have absolutely no confidence in their own staff capabilities and have therefore appointed an outside agency to operate these bus services.
The above episode tells you two things, government servants in Goa are more than required and therefore even a small task attracts too many government agencies. Secondly most government servants after spending long years with the government have stagnated at their jobs and have hardly kept up with modern technology or upgraded their skills. Goans living in cities will tell you their frustration to see government garbage collectors mixing wet and dry waste into one bin after they had painstakingly segregated it. Can anybody in the government even suggest their staff that garbage should be collected from cities only in the night when there is no traffic?
There is a big challenge on our hands, on one hand we have the unemployed Goan youth seeking first time employment and on the other we have a top as well as bottom heavy government employees build up, over the years. The present government is showing some signs to address the lousy legacy left by the past governments of heavy recruiting, done sometimes to bribe voters but many a times to extract bribes from the candidates. Many politicians have made their moolah by creating synthetic vacancies and then take hefty bribes for a job. Problem does not even end there, as many politicians then even provide immunity to the bribe giving employee from any worthwhile work.
This writer and this publication have relentlessly written about the debt trap Goa will face if these practices of reckless spending continue. One must acknowledge that the Chief Minister seems aware of the situation and his statements of streamlining and holding back government recruitment process points out in that direction. Unfortunately statements from his colleagues are confusing, as their chatter mostly points to some big vacancies number to be declared shortly. Streamlining the recruitment process might thwart corruption in recruitment, but it still does not address the present bloated government staff. Looks like pressure is being applied on the Chief Minister to start the same phony exercise of creating vacancies that will be not add any value to Goa, instead burden its finances.
Ideally Goa’s private sector should have been the biggest and most attractive employer for Goa’s Generation Next. Unfortunately over the years politicians have managed to keep a tight leash on Goa’s private sector that everybody throngs to the Government to further their career. Like it or not, the private sector is always at the mercy of the vague rules the government can come up with at any point of time, which acts as a deterrent for investment growth in the private sector.
The Chief Minister should realise that it is not his government’s direct responsibility to provide employment. Instead he should make the environment conducive for the Goan private sector to thrive so that most of the unemployment rush can be diverted in that direction. Even if the environment is created, it will take time to materialise, because you suddenly cannot force Goan businesses to take big risks, if you are unable to address the issue of corrupt politicians that are ready to gobble up business investments without investing a single rupee of their own.
Till that happens the pressure will always be on the Government to provide employment to Goans, an unavoidable situation, but given the circumstances, should be permitted only in genuine employment cases. Each new recruitment has to pass the financially viability test, which can never happen without mass retrenchment in the present government setup. Bringing down the retirement age to ‘fifty’ should hasten the process of a mass exodus and make way for the young. The rule should be without exception and no arguments to be entertained to retain anybody, even if they happen to be optically the best.
The world is looking at a scenario where artificial intelligence robots are on the verge of taking up some of the mundane jobs to start with. Imagine the disruption it will create when companies will have to say goodbye to hard working intelligent humans out of their service just because of a technological advance. Goa has government employees insisting on outdated processes, bundled with a rude attitude towards their customer who happen to pay their salaries, and we still consider them as employable.
Meantime Government servants should accept the reality and gracefully leave to make way for young Goans to take their place. Don’t be under the false impression that only you are the most capable, destined for the job perpetually. Take your dues, for a change, go see the world at your own cost, see how the world operates, chances are you might see the exact use of the Hop On Hop Off bus.
(Plastino D’Costa is a business consultant).
