Team Herald
PANJIM: All does not seem to be well with the coalition government as independent MLA and Revenue Minister Rohan Khaunte on Saturday said that the administration has completely collapsed and as such he has stopped going to the Secretariat.
“Administration has come to a standstill. The Finance Department is just not clearing files for months together. The files are just moving up and down,” Khaunte told Herald in a telephonic conversation.
Khaunte said that the bureaucracy is not answerable to the people of Goa but the ministers and MLAs are. “They are just playing game of table tennis with the files and nothing else. Hence, as a mark of protest, I felt there was no point going to the Secretariat,” he said.
Asked whether he has taken up the matter with Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar, Khaunte replied, “I apprised the CM of the situation last week and he had assured corrective measures. But I have not seen any improvement.”
Khaunte said all was fine till the CM was fine but now the bureaucracy is holding the administration to ransom. “The CM was very supportive of IT policy, start-ups, etc, but now everything has gone for a toss,” he said adding, “There is no support from the
administration.”
Asked whether he plans to take any drastic step, Khaunte replied, “That is not in my mind as of now but I will have to talk to my people as administration has collapsed totally. We need support otherwise it affects the performing ministers. I worked 15-18 hours a day for last one and half year to deliver what was promised to the people,” he said.
Khaunte said he was not asking anything above the budgetary provision to his departments. “Everything was within the budgetary provisions announced by the CM. But the bureaucracy is just not moving, there is no accountability at all.”
Deputy Speaker Michael Lobo had been the first MLA from the ruling side to go public saying that the State administration had ‘totally collapsed’ because of the absence of Manohar Parrikar.
The Opposition Congress had earlier also met Governor Dr Mridula Sinha demanding her immediate intervention to protect the State administration.
