Goa’s Chief Minister, Manohar Parrikar, should stop blaming the earlier Governments for Goa's ills. He has been in power for long and should take responsibility and be held accountable for the deteriorating condition of our otherwise very secular and peace-loving Goa. He has reneged on every principle he stood for while in Opposition. The health of the State coffers is not going to improve as long as he continues to send jumbo delegations of Ministers and MLAs overseas on shopping and sightseeing jaunts.
Chief Minister Parrikar has been promising the people of Goa a white paper on the functioning of the Economic Development Corporation (EDC). If not white, let it be black or even saffron but the Chief Minister should release the paper. It is a fact that over the years this Corporation has turned into the whitest of elephants after being sucked and mauled by every successive Politician - Chairman and their chums. Offers of one time loan settlements were granted not to the deserving and the most recent to benefit are some of Mr. Parrikar's close kin. Is this the reason the Chief Minister is hesitating to release the white paper he so much bragged about? The Chief Minister has been in vain re-assuring Goans that the State exchequer is in good health. A rosy picture is sought to be painted when we all know the despicable condition of our coffers. The Government of Goa owes the KLE hospital in Belgaum around Rs. four crores in medi-claim bills for all the medical care rendered and not available in Goa. India's no 1 state should have had the best of medical facilities. And now with KLE's bill unpaid, patients are being sent to Mumbai and Bangalore where the bills are piling up. Matka, the illegal gambling has been brought to a grinding halt in our big neighbouring states but it is proliferating in our tiny Goa with the blessings of Chief Minister Parrikar for the simple reason that at least two of his cabinet ministers have high stakes in this illegal trade. Mr. Parrikar's promise to eradicate Matka was yet another of his empty promises for public consumption. The recent crackdown on unhygienic restaurants and eating-places is appreciated. But one wonders where the health, food and sanitary inspectors were napping all this while. The drive should be long-term and sustained and not a mere temporary eye-wash. We should not allow the situation to return to square one by the greasing of palms. When Goa was being adjudged the No 1 State, may be the pathetic condition of the bus terminal of Goa's capital city was not in sight. When will the Chief Minister have the time to bring some order and sanity to this terminal, the condition of which may soon be beyond repair. And the Chief Minister is now the Chairman of the Kadamba Transport Corporation and so cannot pass the buck, which he would very much like to. The BJP has a track record of playing vested interest politics. They lure allies and then stab them when they serve no purpose or when the sailing goes rough. It is no surprise that the BJP- Mayawati honeymoon has ended. It was surprising that Mayawati had even tried to be-friend the communal outfit the third time around. The two recent entrants into the Goa BJP, Pandurang Madkaikar and Atanasio Monseratte alike Mayawati will have their day of reckoning soon. What is more disturbing is that the firebrand leader of many agitations, Mathany Saldanha, continues to be fascinated by Mr. Parrikar's saffron regime. The other regimes were corrupt alike Parrikar’s but never communal and casteist as the current one. Mathany claims to be rendering Parrikar issue-based support. However, during the last Legislative Assembly session Mathany spoke against some Government proposals but when it came to voting cast his sunken soul in line with the Government. So one wonders what this issue based support is all about. Is it retainer base support, one wonders? Today's advancement in science even enables you to change your sex but unfortunately one cannot till date switch one's caste. The longer Mr. Parrikar remains in office the future for you is bleak unless you belong to the particular thread of society the current Chief Minister represents. Aires Rodrigues, Ribandar ########################################################################## # Send submissions for Goanet to [EMAIL PROTECTED] # # PLEASE remember to stay on-topic (related to Goa), and avoid top-posts # # More details on Goanet at http://joingoanet.shorturl.com/ # # Please keep your discussion/tone polite, to reflect respect to others # ##########################################################################
