Goa made all round progress in short tenure under dynamic leadership of Manohar Parrikar. In terms of Governance by BJP from Oct 2000 to Feb 2005 Goa attained a top slot in all fields and was adjudged the best and model state of India in Year 2003. Liberalisation changed the Center State equation, starting with the premiership of A.B.Vajpayee, states gained greater autonomy because of political leverage at the center. It changed both business environment & quality of life during Parrikar’s efficient and dynamic administration. Goa had suddenly turned into country’s growth engine. During this period Goa attained overflowing investment because of growth in environment & infrastructure facilities which were more accessible to new Ventures. For instance Dr. Reddy’s proposal to set up a formulation plant in Goa was cleared just in 15 days and second example when pharma major Cipla approached IDC chairman Rajendra Arlekar for expanding its Verna plant, the company was told to start right away and IDC would clear its paper work within a fortnight. The credit for improved overall performance during BJP rule goes undoubtedly to Parrikar for his far sightedness. During this spell Goa was freed from stagnation of power. Liberated from past hands of rascals, rogues and free booters. For many years Goa was misruled by corrupt Congress leaders who had sweet tongues but crooked hearts, they fought among themselves for power due to which Goa was lost in political squabbles. Along with power shift there was a change in political culture as most efficiently shown by Parrikar as most progressive Chief Minister. Goa had achieved political stability in contrast to having 12 Chief Ministers in a span of a decade. Parrikar himself a Metalurgical Engineer from IIT Mumbai was instrumental in transforming Goa into Investment hotspot making it one of the top Indian state. It was Parrikar along with his BJP MLAs charted out an economic blueprint for the state’s resurgence with ambitious Industrial policy. Aware of the fact that tourism, mining and chemical industries alone would not sustain the state for ever, Parrikar concluded that Goa’s future lay in the growth of eco friendly Industries that would tap the state’s skilled manpower resources. After sweeping into power just within a year’s span Parrikar first had to set in order a quantum of tasks. He first sounded a zero tolerance policy against corruption. Next his Government turned around the ailing Electricity Board which was in a very bad state following power scandal by erstwhile Congress power minister. Parrikar brought down transmission and distribution losses from 44 per cent to 18 percent. The results; tariffs had been reduced and the Electricity Board in the same year aggregated a whopping Rs. 100 crore in profits. The development trend was in other segments too, the state’s IDC was revitalized in addition to sops like capital investment subsidy schemes and tax holidays. Industries were given unheard incentives like 30 per cent employment investment and instant clearance for capacity expansion. Parrikar kickstarted the infrastructure drive. Smooth tar carpets were laid over Goa’s roads and four lane highways were linked to industrial estates with airport and seaport. A cyberage scheme which was a brainchild of Parrikar saw the Government spending Rs. 10 crore in distributing Computers at a nominal Rs. 1000. He had a dream of equipping one fourth of state’s two lakh households with computers averaging in par with the developed countries. The most parameter during Parrikar regime Goa had performed well above the national average. It was very unfortunate that his opponents could not digest his achievements and succeeded in pulling down the well performing Government by instigating split among his coalition partners. Goa should have such a dynamic Chief Minister for at least a consecutive 10 years which would turn our Goa into Singapore. Vinay
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