MLAs must stop acting like Godfathers of their Constituency and have a vision for the State

Sandeep Heble

In the last 10 days or so, Goa’s former Tourism Minister Mickey Pacheco got himself into a spot of bother when he drove his car on the beach, reportedly over a parachute, and followed it up by making rude and obscene gestures. Mickey’s video went viral and for the next few days, it became a burning topic on the social media. What followed was various internet memes on platforms like Facebook and whatsapp, which put Mickey once again in the spotlight, for all the wrong reasons.
Mickey’s crime was no doubt a serious one. He drove rashly on the beach and could easily have run over someone, which fortunately did not happen. Soon, the former Nuvem MLA paid the price when a case was registered against him under various IPC sections, and he had to move court to avoid arrest in the matter.
While social media went hammer and tongs on Mickey, what perhaps they missed was that Mickey is today no longer a political strongman. He is not an elected representative. He is just an ordinary citizen who can be tamed easily and that is exactly what happened. Why can’t social media show the same kind of enthusiasm to tame our elected representatives who do not perform?
Who is there to tame our elected representatives, some of who indulge in far worse acts of commission and omission? Is there any system where we can hold our Government or elected representatives responsible for the losses caused to State exchequer or wrong policy decisions being taken?
This week, it was the mining crisis which came into focus when hundreds of mining dependants blocked traffic on the two Mandovi bridges and disrupted free flow of the traffic. Citizens were put to a lot of hardship and what made matters worse was that students who were answering their 12th standard exams had to go through a lot of stress and inconvenience. Were the protests fair to the Public and to the students? What exactly did the protestors seek to achieve through such protests, which were followed by stone pelting and violence?
The Apex Court’s Judgment needs to be carefully read. It reflects the poor manner in which the Government dealt with the mining issue during the last many years. In its Judgment, where scathing observations were made, the Supreme Court cancelled all the 88 mining leases, which according to it, were renewed hurriedly. The Court slammed the speed at which the lease renewals were pushed through and worryingly noted, “the state granted a second renewal for 88 mining leases – with 31 of those leases being granted on one day, January 12, 2015”.
Did the State miss a trick or two in renewing the leases in such a hurried manner? So why was the process of competitive bidding and auctioning, while granting mining leases was not followed? In other States like Karnataka and Chhattisgarh, according to Government’s own figures, as much as Rs.59,500 crores revenue was earned by auctioning just 16 mines. Why was there a reluctance to follow this path in Goa? How much did the State lose and at the end of the day, who is to be held responsible and accountable for all this?
While mining is one sector where there have been a whole lot of issues and legal tangles, various other Departments also have their own set of problems. Most of them are not functioning smoothly and in the manner that they should. Many of them just go through their day to day routine and files move from one table to the other slowly. Years go by but nothing seems to change. Does the Government and its Ministers not have the vision to put things in order, to implement and fast track reforms in their respective Departments? How many systems has the Government managed to put in place since the last decade or so?
For a citizen to get a simple NOC from the Municipality, it will take him nothing less than 10 to 15 days on an average. Sometimes, even more. Similar will be the case to get a water or power or sewage connection. In 2012, Goa overwhelmingly voted one party out and brought another one in with a clear mandate. But since then, Zero tolerance towards corruption is but a mere slogan. The Goa Lokayukta has been a toothless tiger. Since 2013, the Right of citizens to time-bound delivery of public services has remained an Act only on paper and is yet to be thoroughly implemented. Court cases are dragging and people are getting frustrated for no fault of theirs. Why does it take so many years for our systems to move and how long will the people have to wait for progressive laws and measures to fall in place?
Today, people are losing faith in institutions and in the Government itself because of the rampant corruption and incompetency that has seeped into the system. BJP’s tallest leader Atal Bihari Vajpayee once said, “there can be no compromise regarding corruption”. But today, all kinds of compromises are being done just to remain in power. Is it worth it?
Whenever I ask people if things have changed, they look at me in a disappointed face and their expression says it all. Our elected representatives need to act like statesmen. Not be like Godfathers of their respective constituencies. Goa is backwards in various ways because of their myopic vision and thinking, where they think from the perspective of only their voters. What Goa needs now, is a clean-up act to bring all the Departments to life. Our elected representatives have a responsibility which they need to fulfil to take our State forward.

The writer is Treasurer of Goa RTI Forum. Views expressed above are his own.