In the course of conducting any business, certain key factors are needed to be the guiding force to achieve optimum results within set timelines.
It is obvious that these key factors are presently missing in the governance of our State.
There are various Departments in our Government, put in place to perform certain specific tasks. To perform these tasks, there needs to be a vision, set of goals, clear guidelines for implementation, periodic reviews and non-performance needs to be tackled to ensure individual and collective accountability.
Every morning our day starts with the newspaper headlines screaming hoarse highlighting issues like law and order, floods, bad roads, destruction of environment, cybercrimes, lives lost to motor accidents and drowning, garbage strewn all over, uncontrolled stray dog menace, shortage of clean water and uninterrupted power supply, non-payment towards welfare schemes, lack of heath care facilities at Taluka and District level, due to shortage of doctors, nurses, equipment and consumables, unemployment and rampant, uncontrolled interference by politicians in power, in the functioning of the concerned Departments, tweaking of regulations by issuing circulars and this write up can fill up the whole page as the list goes on and on.
A new malaise has also slowly crept all over the State: the disorganized, roadside vendors, mostly migrants, selling fish, vegetables, fruits, plastics, furniture and food items, right under the noses of the Chief Minister and Ministers speeding away to and fro, the Municipal and Panchayat authorities, Food and Drugs Department, the Road Transport Department, Health and Sanitation Department, Public Works Department and the Police all happily turning their head the other way or passing the buck from one to the other, with a who the hell cares attitude.
Currently, when the Goa Legislative Assembly is in session, one can’t help but notice that the same issues which were debated time and again in the past few years are still not concluded, and makes one wonder, whether the Government of the day, has a will to seriously deal with these issues affecting the common man and larger good of the State.
Madhei river diversion, Tiger Reserve, Nauxi Marina, Opinion Poll, Coal, Pollution, Double tracking, New Education Policy 2020, Draft CZMP 2019, Jurisdiction of Mormugao Port Authority overlapping on the Goa Land Revenue Code Regulations, are just some of the serious issues which a competent Government had to resolve without undue delay as directly or indirectly the day to day lives of the citizens are affected by these important issues.
There is too much of uncertainty in the air, due to conflicting regulations, be it for those, seeking employment, through Employment exchange, in Private Companies or Government Departments, starting a small business enterprise. Even for qualified and enterprising locals who are intending to utilize their own family owned land resources, to engage in agriculture or any commercial activities, their aspirations remain just a pipe dream, as there are too many Double Doors to knock on to unlatch the much talked about Single Window Policy.
So, what are the options left for enterprising Goan youth? Migrate to another state for business or employment, leaving your families and sometimes aged parents to fend for themselves. The next options are to cross the Arabian Sea to any Gulf countries or take a Portuguese Passport and head overseas, probably to Ireland, Scotland or other European Union Member States unaffected by Brexit.
To cut a long unending story short, it all sums up that undoubtedly, it’s solely the Government, which is responsible for an (mis)administration sans an action plan, timelines for implementation of policies, review of performance and accountability, which is obviously lacking, and makes one wonder: “Is Goa Fumbling or Bungling.”?