Sports minister flashes the yellow card TNN Apr 24, 2012, 03.32AM IST PANAJI: It had to happen.
That sports minister Ramesh Tawadkar and directorate of sports and youth affairs (DSYA) director Susana de Souza cannot see eye to eye is well known in sports circles. So when the sports minister decided to pay a "surprise visit" to the DSYA headquarters in the city on Monday, despite being cordially told that they would like to lay down the red carpet for his maiden entry to the head office in Campal, hardly anyone was surprised. It was also no shock that the director had not yet taken her seat when the sports minister pushed the chamber open at 10.30am. "There have been complaints that the director comes late to office and those who want to visit her have to wait till evening. I wanted to see for myself if things had improved but there is no change," Tawadkar told TOI on Monday. Tawadkar is understood to have checked the muster roll, spent an hour at the office and then left for his office at the assembly complex in Porvorim. It was not exactly the way the DSYA wanted to welcome Tawadkar on his first visit to the headquarters after he assumed office as sports minister. "During one of the meetings with the chief minister, the director had asked the sports minister to inform her when he plans to visit the office. The idea was to provide a welcome in a manner that is befitting the sports minister. Once the official visit was done, he was told he can make as many surprise visits as he desired," said a senior official of the DSYA. De Souza's absence from office is also not a surprise. The director, among the best-qualified in the state, is known to work till late in the night and sometimes even on her off days. Like for the past two days-Saturday and Sunday-de Souza is said to have reported for work and, on Sunday, left for home only at 8.30pm clearing papers for a pending court case. Tawadkar's dislike for de Souza and her method of working has never been kept under wraps. Last year, Tawadkar raised the issue of de Souza's late arrival in the state assembly and said he was flooded with complaints that people who come from far-flung areas had to wait till evening for a meeting with the sports director. "These things have been going on for far too long. The director must improve, come to office on time or be ready to face action. I don't want to be branded as revengeful and seen to be taking action after just one surprise visit. She has time to fall in line," said the sports minister. De Souza, when contacted, did not comment, insisting she did not want to create any "political confusion". Whether de Souza, as the minister has demanded, "falls in line" remains to be seen but with Tawadkar-a former physical education teacher-as the sports minister, such surprise visits will no longer be a surprise.
