PANJIM: It is a matter of concern for Goa now as it has slipped down from the all India ranking of 19 to 24 in the Ease Of Doing Business (EODB).
In 2017 Goa had ranked 21 in the Ease of Doing Business which is declared by Department of Industry Policy and Promotion (DIPP) and improved to 19 in 2018, but the latest report (for 2019), which was released by DIPP on Saturday, places Goa at the rank of 24.
Industry has come done heavily on the government for the fall in rankings. “Nothing surprising that we have gone low on EODB. Former Chief Minister was bed-ridden and no delegation of power happened. Entire system crashed. No magic wand happened when a new CM took charge. I have seen he is taking steps and results would surely be seen in immediate future. Less to say that the present Chief Minister should crack whip and stop ministers from issuing illegal and arbitrary circulars by asking to send files to them,” MAIT Delhi president Nitin Kunkolienker told Herald .
He added that a three-fold strategy would work. First revisit the unnecessary legal and statutory blocks of the legacy system; second make the process smoother by removing unnecessary circulars and being in reforms centric directions and initiatives, third bold e-governance initiative which should be Government to Citizen (G2C), Government to Government (G2G) and Government to Business (G2B) centric.
He said that there should be strong interdepartmental data integration, sharing strategies which would enable duplication of work and hassle free. Another should be in creating excellent user experience. This will also enable the government to manage the departments well and Goa would soon prosper. This is very easily achievable and can be achieved in the next six months.
“Chief Minister should be ruthless in demanding these and Goa will rock. Corruption and harassments would be reduced drastically. This will also help the government employees too with better work conditions. It will be a win-win strategy for all,” Kunkolienker added.
Speaking to Herald, Goa State Industries Association president Damodar Kochkar said, “Goa’s rank falls to 24 in the State Business Reform Action Plan (BRAP) based EODB rankings. This is a very alarming sign for Goa’s industrial scenario. I have been screaming right from the day one of my taking over as president of GSIA that we need EODB in real sense. DIPP have done away with the earlier practice of conducting the EODB rankings based on compliance documents uploaded by the State government. This year, DIPP has sought feedback from industry bodies, private consultants deployed in State governments and users of government services.”
He added with pain that, “Even now if this government does not wake up and work in coordination with the industries associations than I fear it may hit the bottom of the chart. Everyone at the realms of the affairs are busy working on their ease of business nobody wants to support industries the way it is.”
