We seem to be under the impression that governments don’t listen to citizens and perform as per their wishes or what suits their agenda. The above statement does have some merit, but might not be entirely true. Eventually all governments do keep a tab on the citizens’ needs and work as per their wishes. They might not like to admit it for fear of dilution of their power, or to discourage personal favours, but even governments with huge political mandate cannot afford to be complacent, especially in a country such as ours that consists of a young and ambitious population.
This year Goa witnessed relentless rains which exposed the state of our roads. The citizens and the media were also unrelenting in their criticism, so much so that the government was forced into taking some temporary measures to fix the potholes notwithstanding the ongoing and continuous rains. The Government used Whatsapp and encouraged the public to send location coordinates of the potholes while promising these potholes are to be fixed only during the nights. Of course most potholes are yet to be fixed because the rains are still on making the task more complicated. Rest assured once the rains subside these potholes are going to be fixed. The government has no choice but to fix them, because they have seen and noted enough anger and frustration among the public.
Unfortunately our anger is diverted in the wrong direction. Instead of pulling up the present government our focus ought to have been on the all important question as to why these potholes exist in the first place. Who was responsible for such shoddy work and has got away, leaving the baby in the present government’s hand to face the music. Infrastructure projects if compromised to accommodate kickbacks will not show fault lines the very next day, they take time to fester or incessant rains to expose what really lies beneath our roads.
As usual the Opposition has made some noise, just for the optics, hoping the citizens have already forgotten the fact that they were also once responsible to do up these roads not so long ago. The slanging match between the government and the opposition will continue that will not only tire out the citizens, but a deliberate game plan to relegate the issue to the backburner. Politicians have earlier tasted success in Goa, by using the same blame game and tiring the citizens, to put the entire issue of corruption not only on the back burner, but almost out of the kitchen window.
Problem with potholes is the public has to deal with it on a daily basis and will not rest easy till they get addressed; hence the government has no choice but to fix them or run the risk of facing a loud deafening noise from its people. Corruption on the other hand can masquerade for long periods as it has no immediate impact on its citizens. The challenge for Goans will be to remember the past corrupt deeds done by individuals in their personal capacity at the cost of the State. Not an easy task since these corrupt individuals use the social machinery in the hope they can wipe out the residual memory of their corrupt deeds people have on them.
One method is to get invited to address young formative minds and make them listen to their Richie Rich stories. One wonders what kind of message organisers of such events are trying to send to their students. In an uncertain and rapidly changing world the Generation Next is faced with massive career issues to deal with, the least we can do is not to confuse them with stories which are hardly inspirational; on the contrary these acts sow seeds for a corrupt Generation Next. If we continue like this we might as well introduce a subject to teach students on how to swindle public money and fill your own personal coffers.
The other method is to infiltrate charitable institutions, agreed charitable institutions are run on charity and these organisations are in no position to evaluate the colour of the money that comes in the form of charity, but charities that are forced to depend on tainted money are not worth the effort. The corrupt, hungry to find acceptance in the society usually use charities that are pressed for money to fulfill their crooked agenda. In the bargain the general public is confused, they don’t know what to remember, the corrupt practice or a minuscule percentage of the corrupt wealth donated with much fanfare. In that case we might as well encourage our Generation Next to go full throttle on corruption and also make sure a small donation is made to charity, to get over any guilt they might have.
This brings us to the most crucial question. Have Goans condoned the corrupt? In that case we might as well say it openly, rather than to give the corrupt a backdoor entry into mainstream society. Don’t expect a hard working honest Goan to go after the corrupt, the fact that he has chosen to stay the course of honesty in these trying economic times only goes to show that he rejects the corrupt. We have not been able to eliminate corruption as a society, at least let us not add to the confusion and dilute the meaning of corruption in the minds of the people.
A confused society will never be able to make enough noise on corruption so as to remind the government to take action on all legacy corrupt issues.
No action will result in the corrupt not only leading a good life, but also in the position of influencing the Generation Next. That is completely unacceptable.
(Plastino D’Costa is a business consultant)
