GOA’S CHAOTIC TRAFFIC-2 By Valmiki Faleiro What I’m going to write this Sunday is, to many, common knowledge. Only, it has no legal proof. I gathered the info from entirely dependable friends. They cannot be named, for reasons soon to be obvious. And, because this writing will not stand the test of a libel litigation, the perpetrators, too, will not be named. This piece, by no means, is exhaustive – only indicative. Goa’s Directorate of Transport was never really above board. But, never in memory, did it sink to a worse level of decadence than today. Corruption in government, as anywhere in the world, fountainheads from the top. If the top were clean, no person below – from officer to peon – would dare be corrupt. S/he would be sacked, impromptu. Hence, the wardens responsible for safety on Goa’s roads cannot be primarily blamed. An officer in the department enters as an Assistant Motor Vehicles Inspector (Asst. MVI). He must pay between 20 to 30 lakhs bribe to get the job, today. When I was a working journalist about three decades ago, the bribe was Rupees five to ten thousand, worth about a lakh of today. Forget an officer, every employee hired these days must either pay a bribe or be related to a minister (who probably also pays the hiring minister.) Every step of the way in the traffic officer’s career, from Asst. MVI, to MV Inspector, to Asst. Director, and to Dy. Director (the Director is from the Goa civil cadre), he must bribe a few more lakhs. This is because once he enters service as an Asst. MVI, paying a huge sum, his annual service CRs (Confidential Reports) would be sullied, in the process of recovering the bribe through daily petty bribery. CRs “count,” promotion time. Remember no traffic officer or anyone above in the hierarchy receives cash bribes in person. They have in place a well-organised network of ‘agents’ that do that job for them. That’s the reason the Aam Aadmi will be harassed if he dares approach the office directly, bypassing the touts. The pettiest, but high volume, bribes come from routine matters like issuing driving licences. The slush money from each two/four-wheeler licence issued is Rs.350-500 (1,000 for heavy vehicles.) A ‘service badge’ required, in law, to be worn by every bus conductor, fetches between Rs.250-500. Every annual Fitness Certificate ‘inspection’ of a public service vehicle brings in routine Rs.500 for LMVs and 1,000 for HMVs. I wrote last Sunday how private passenger buses crawl in towns and begin a race with competition once outside. It’s because every ‘Regular Stage Permit’ (that’s the licence, with approved departure timings, all passenger buses need, to operate) today comes at bribes ranging between Rs.10,000-50,000. More remunerative the timings a bus operator seeks, the more he must pay. That’s how timings clash, ensuing bus races, and the mindless killing of innocent road users. In fairness, bus operators must also pay fixed monthly bribes not only to RTO, but to the police as well. An operator, say, on the 20-kms Sanguem-Margao route, must pay to Sanguem, Curchorem, Quepem, Maina-Curtorim, and Margao police stations, every month. The crowing glory of Goa’s RTO, Police and Excise departments are their four Border “check posts” – in this post-1961 era! – at Dhargal, Dodamarg, Molem and Polem. If you ever wondered why they exist, or what purpose they serve, let me explain by the RTO route. Every commercial vehicle entering Goa must routinely pay a bribe of anywhere between Rs.500 to 10,000 or more, for every entry at the RTO border post. That’s why our vegetables and meat from Belgaum costs more. In this era of competition, every heavy goods vehicle is over-laden, every inter-State bus carries extra passengers. The legal fine for overloading is Rs.2,000 for every extra tonne, or passenger, beyond the licenced capacity … so, rather get away with a smaller bribe than a fine in multiples of that amount. Three traffic officers are posted on six- month tenure at each of the four border posts. They work 24-hour shifts, in all 10 days in a month. Each officer collects about Rs.35 lakhs during each six-month posting. But, must plough back to the top Rs.25 lakhs for every tenure. Of the four border posts, Molem is wealthiest – thanks to China, and hundreds of mineral ore trucks entering Goa from Tinaighat every day. POSTSCRIPT: I support Transport Minister Pandurang Madkaikar’s ‘firm’ resolve to make Speed Governors mandatory in Goa for heavy vehicles – even if the two approved manufacturers of the speed-control device will rake in (and share) huge profits. (ENDS) The Valmiki Faleiro weekly column at: http://www.goanet.org/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=330 ============================================================================== The above article appeared in the February 3, 2008 edition of the Herald, Goa
