Goa recently saw signs of frustration from two persons that on paper are supposed to have had all the powers given to them by the people of Goa to carry on their work. One is the Chief Minister who used a public event to show his unhappiness on the way most of his government servants were performing. The other was the outgoing Lokayukta who just completed his term but after leaving managed to give some serious feedback on how the politician-bureaucrat nexus had hampered his functioning.
While the Lokayukta was blunt in pointing out the hurdles that were created by the politician-bureaucrat nexus, the Chief Minister seem to express his unhappiness on the performance of government servants, but fell short in pointing out individuals that were stonewalling the system. The fact that the Chief Minister had to use a public forum to point out flaws in his own government departments means the system is broken from the inside and a broken system will never be able to deliver. It also means most government workers believe they are indispensible and can never be penalised for non-performance.
When a Chief Minister makes a statement projecting his helplessness to get work done from government servants that are supposed to work under him in the interest of the state, it seriously exposes the fault lines the system has created over a period of time and the command and control lies elsewhere. Unfortunately this is one lousy legacy every Chief Minister will have to undergo even if we elect a smart or a go getter individual. Nobody is suggesting Government jobs are not needed especially in these times of pandemic, but they have to be right and real, with proper job descriptions rather than some phony ones that are created just to resolve the unemployment of the state, thereby putting serious pressure on our finances. Goans better realise, the worse the financial position of the state, the more they are going to pinch our pockets hard.
So the question here is; why is it that government servants have an air of invincibility about them, so much so, that nobody can really pull them up for non-performance? Are their jobs guaranteed for life, performance or no performance? Do they have no deadlines to meet? Are they recruited much before finalising their job description? Do they like cranky kids run to politicians that were instrumental in hiring them in the first place, on sensing their performance is under review? Or worse, have they bribed politicians to get the job and now consider themselves as untouchables in the scheme of things. Whatever the reason, the Chief Minister better come clean and give specific answers to the people of Goa, because it is our money that you are splurging on these non performing state actors. The only government servants that are hassled and given tasks beyond their job description are teachers and the medical fraternity, possibly because they are the decent lot and so naturally become soft targets. The rest can stay in shutdown mode for years.
No wonder the Chief Minister has spoken lately that it is going to be increasingly difficult to create government jobs perpetually without compromising the financial position of the state. His recent utterances shows his desperation as he slowly realises that his position has now become just that of a rubber-stamp politician whose job is to give automatic approval to decisions made by others without proper consideration. If non-performing government workers cannot be shown the door or for that matter if the Chief Minister cannot stop a double tracking rail project resulting in wholesale chopping of trees, it means the control is somewhere else and the Chief Minister is just following orders given through remote control.
Goans desire a Chief Minister that keeps the interest of the state paramount, they did not elect a clerk that signs every file that comes from the center. It is time he does some retrospection, being a professional doctor he does not need to remain in politics to earn his bread and butter. Once you keep a mindset that is willing to leave the office on your own terms, nobody can force you to follow anybody’s crooked agenda. But if you want to stretch your time in office to the longest time possible it means you have got used to the perks that come with the job and will be forced to compromise your position time and again. Remember these perks don’t fall from the sky, but come from every well off or not so well off Goan pockets. Therefore the only remote control the Chief Minister if at all should follow is the instructions from the people of Goa.
As far as the Lokayukta is concerned every individual in this position must understand that the law was made on a rush basis only to diffuse the nation’s anger against corruption that was galvanized by Anna Hazare at that time. So definitely they are going to keep loopholes in the system so that the corrupt can get away on technicalities. After all you don’t expect a mouse to go to the market and buy a mousetrap that will eventually trap the mouse itself. Lokayukta needs a serious review in its working but there is hardly anybody willing to streamline the process.
Unfortunately our slave mentality have allowed governments, state or center, to take decisions in an opaque manner with no explanation or justification required to be given to the people. The fact that cabinet meetings are not conducted in a transparent manner, not shown on live television only shows that there are many push and pulls in the government decision making process. For all you know these politicians for fear they will lose their time in office could be just the face for decisions made through a remote control. It is time we learn to ask questions directly on every decision made by the government because we have an opposition in Goa that has a legacy of unresolved corruption charges against them that gives a walkover to the government to take any decisions without any transparent discussions. No proper debate means Goa has to dig for the long haul to be controlled remotely.
(The author is a business
consultant)
