With BJP govt at Centre, Parrikar left with no excuse to rid State of festering issues
TEAM HERALD
teamherald@herald-goa.com
PANJIM: Now that the Manohar Parrikar government has its own party government at the Centre, it will have to get down to governance of the State with a sense of urgency to deal with long list of festering issues.
Earlier, the chief minister was at pains to underline financial constraints or step motherly treatment by the Centre, as causes for his inability to get things moving. But now that this is off his back, he will have to do better and get the bureaucracy moving to solve people’s problems.
Important issues to be dealt with on priority are the mining policy and the investment/industrial policy both of which are important to immediate growth and development of the state and are pending finalization.
The apex court, has on an interim basis, allowed the re-starting of mining, subject to a proper inquiry and meeting of all legal requirements. Also the State has been allowed to clear off all ore lying at jetties and docks and clear the dumps, the apex court has put a lot of conditions and asked for proper studies to be conducted and supervision has to be tightened up. Also, as all leases have been declared illegal, the government has to formulate a proper lease allotment policy and legalise all the mines.
Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar is on record saying that he would consult the Centre on allotment of mining leases and that he was in favour of a uniform state-wide policy. He had also said that he would only pay attention to the mining policy after Modi’s swearing-in and other formalities were over.
The investment policy is another area of major policy trigger for the State, given that investment and industrialization situation is quite dismal. The policy could be finalized as soon as the end of this week.
Another long festering issue is that of the Regional Plan that was to be finalized immediately after the new government was voted to power in 2012. However, gradually the deadline for its finalization were pushed forward and even two years after the BJP government came to power, the old regional plan against which a massive agitation was launched has not been de-notified but merely held in abeyance. Development is going quaintly as per two regional plans. Also a decision has to be taken on Outline Development Plans as almost 30% of the State is under its purview and no regional plan would make much sense if so much of the State is out of its jurisdiction.
A third major sector that requires government attention is the tourism policy, in the absence of which there is chaos within and among stakeholders. The investment policy is trying to give it a new direction, as highlighted by Herald first. But ultimately the State has to develop basic and world class infrastructure and concentrate on solving nagging problems including collection and treatment of garbage and solid waste management that could ultimately decide whether a tourist has a good experience in the state and would return to Goa again. The tourism policy has to put in place broad parameters on the quality of tourists that we will attract and how this tourism will benefit locals, at the same time safeguarding environment and local culture and concerns.
