PANJIM: It has hardly been a few days since the Cabinet Ministers took charge of their new portfolio but the citizens of the State have already started questioning the rationale behind some of the statements given by new PWD Minister Nilesh Cabral and Agriculture Minister Ravi Naik.
While Cabral defended the continuous fuel hike and said the people who have an issue with this should buy electric vehicles, Naik said Goa’s water can be exported to the rest of India and the world by building dams across the State to conserve water.
Both these comments sparked outrage given that these days locals have been protesting about the rapid fuel price hike and complaining about not receiving adequate water supply.
“Here I am worried about how my monthly savings are being drained every time I fill the tank of my vehicle and on top of it the Minister is asking us to drain our overall savings and buy an electric vehicle. Is this the kind of response we are supposed to get from the Ministers,” said Luis D’Costa from Benaulim.
“BJP has been in power for the last decade but has not yet helped provide the public an efficient public transport system that is available across all corners of the State and all times. If there was better public transport, we would not have had to use our vehicles as much but we are forced to do so. Why can’t Cabral talk about that?” said Kishan Naik from Mormugao.
“The inflation is already breaking the back of the common man. How can he even think of switching to an e-vehicle? Wake up and smell the coffee sir! Can he tell the people why the Govt has withdrawn the financial scheme to buy vehicles at subsidised interest rate for the Government employees,” said Daniel F De Soua, from Vasco.
Citizens were amused and surprised that Naik being cabinet minster can make such bizarre claims.
“What Ravi said reminded me of some of the absurd pitches made by contestants on reality TV shows like Shark Tank, which is ripped apart by the Judges. Is this the kind of quality we expect from the Agriculture Minister and former CM? If the solution is so simple, why isn’t this common practice,” asked Gopal Kamat from Margao.
“People are facing acute water shortage and we are told that there are problems with the pipelines that are leaking. His earlier ‘chai samosa kaya’ statement was funny, yes, but this is not a joke. People are suffering and he is talking about exporting water out of Goa when there are some Goans who are not getting water,” said Jonathan Fernandes from Fatorda.
