Picture this. A tiny rabbit moves out of his cubby hole next to a highway and strays on to the middle of it at night. Suddenly, there’s a huge glare of headlights, the screeching of tyres as an on rushing car brakes to avoid hitting him. As the glare shines in the rabbit, his apprehension and panic is palpable.
Put this in context of Parsekar becoming Chief Minister. He was made Chief Minister out of the blue and unlike the rabbit he liked being on the Highway though he didn’t expect to get there. But the spotlight is on and the glare is on him. And he appears to be struggling.
As he himself admitted, ‘I need the protection of Manohar Parrikar the same way that he is protecting the country.”
No wonder that Parsekar has spent a better part of his first month praying, having visited almost every major temple in Goa to seek blessings.
The Chief Minister has very little to talk about his governance in one month, apart from his spiritual visits, cancellation of crucial meetings with ministers and his son Rishi’s controversial Facebook posts. The Ruling as well Opposition has termed the tenure as “honeymoon period” and have asked Chief Minister to stop “chilling” out and be “active”.
Less vocal, not much accessible and not very workaholic, the 58-year-old Chief Minister remained low on the administrative front. The calibre, energy and work speed that former Chief Minister Parrikar is not, to say the least, in Parsekar’s DNA.
The one month tenure saw no major decisions or announcements. The CM has held only one cabinet meeting. Though the increasing number of thefts, robberies and dacoities, force him to take personal interest in Police Department functioning to ensure proper investigations, (despite which the crime continued) Parsekar kept himself away from crucial issues like mining, Regional Plan, Mid-Day Meal Scheme and steps to mobilize additional resources to tap additional revenue generation.
Parsekar’s biggest disappointment in one month came in the form of his failure to break the 12-day long hunger strike call given by over thousands of contract employees under Goa Employment and Recruitment Employees Union (GREEU). Though the Chief Minister gave an assurance to resolve their crisis, his less proactive approach, kept the issue unresolved.
“The first month of Parsekar government has seen to be honeymoon period. He is more seen chilling out at parties, private functions and on religious visits. There is complete administrative mechanism failure,” Independent MLA Vijai Sardesai reacted.
Even before Parsekar could make news, his son – Rishi made the headlines when he threatened a Congress leader of dire consequences in future, if he involved in levying baseless allegations against him and his father. The Chief Minister distanced himself from the controversy, the one that hit before he could take over charge of office.
Apart from making two visits to New Delhi, the 11th Chief Minister of the State, Parsekar has held meetings with directors of various departments trying to understand the new subjects like Education and Mining. Though, he had held nearly three meetings in case of each of departments, he is yet to get the momentum going.
“The Chief Minister is waiting for weekends to clear his files, when Manohar Parrikar visits Goa. The administration becomes active only during those 48 hours. He needs to stop chilling out,” BJP MLA Vishnu Wagh stated.
During this period, the Chief Minister faced criticism from his own Cabinet colleagues over his sluggish attitude towards work. Deputy Chief Minister Francis D’Souza and Public Works Department Minister Ramakrishna Dhavalikar were irked over last minute cancellation of meetings on crucial issues like Regional Plan and on Zuari Bridge. Both the meetings were then scheduled with Parrikar, last week.
After the first Cabinet meeting, that had no major agenda, the Chief Minister announced that mining would resume within three months, without realizing the factual problems, he has apparently directed Mines Department to furnish law books pertaining to mining of minor and major minerals. That briefing also saw the Chief Minister announcing that his government is open for amendment in the controversial Goa Agricultural Tenancy Act 2014, on which currently there is total unrest.
One of the crucial things that can be talked about is the Chief Minister’s proposal to Narendra Modi-led government that Gadgil-Mukherjee formula of fund allocation be reviewed for developed states like Goa. This was placed before in the recent meeting held with Prime Minister.
But he still needs major hand holding. With prayer on his lips and his eye on the calendar, he waits for the weekends to come.
