Responsible government should not support a bandh
By Nisser Dias
nisserdias at gmail.com
SMS to 9422437029
This week we seem to be reading the on-going tug-of-war between chief
minister Manohar Parrikar and Union Home minister P. Chidambaram over
appointments of IAS, IPS, IRS officers, in layman terms babus. To my mind it
is not an individual conflict or one-upmanship but mere posturing between
two political parties who want to show the other in bad light. Sadly in this
cocky friction the general public or rather governance tend to suffer at
either end.
Somewhere and somehow political parties in power whether at the Union level
or state level have to shed their political affiliation to govern and work
in tandem for the betterment of the state and the country as a whole.
The friction between Union Home minister and chief minister is rather
unfortunate which could be solved across the table. But since both the
individuals are from different political parties such dialogue mostly occurs
via press and the media and most of the time is blown out of proportion.
Chief minister Manohar Parrikar is very much right when he says that he has
to be consulted while appointing cadre based officers in Goa. It should not
be that he has to accept each and every officer deputed or transferred to
state by the Union government. It is well known fact that among the cadres
there are plenty of maverick officers some even having a strong political
clout. Hence in a case when two different political parties ruling at the
national level and the state level, such officers can put spokes into
administration and smooth governance of the state and hence consultation
between the Union and the state is very much necessary before appointment of
cadre based officers.
In an ideal situation the Union government should identify such officers for
posting in a particular state but the final choice should be left with the
state government to choose the officers. But the choice should have a rider
that once a state government chooses an officer, that officer should serve
the prescribed number of years in that state and no recommendation of
transfer should be allowed by the Union. In case the officer is found to be
involved in any sort of illegal dealings he should be suspended till the
case against him is finalised in the state itself. There is no classic
example better then IPS officer SP Neeraj Thakur who is alleged to have
assaulted Taleigao MLA Babush Monserrate in 2006 at the Panjim police
station. Very next day he sought transfer, it was immediately granted, he
was relieved and he took up a new posting in another state within 24 hours.
In this case the Union and state governments were ruled by the same
political party so they could move files at a breakneck speed to save an
officer. This IPS officer acted high-handedly after ensuring his escape
route, which indicates that he had the go-ahead from the political bosses to
manhandle Babush. For the Congress it was a sweet revenge as the Taleigao
MLA had dumped the party at the eleventh hour during election and contested
on UGDP ticket.
In case of two political parties at the Centre and state, the law and order
situation created by Babush and his thugs would have been handled
differently. Hence the state government should have a say while appointing
cadre based officers in the state.
Now coming to the second scenario dogging our country. National Democratic
Alliance (NDA) the main opposition for the UPA government at the Centre has
given a call for national bandh today to protest steep hike in petrol
prices. Whatever maybe the reason for the hike, whether it is devaluation of
the rupee against the dollar or inflation or bad economic policies of the
UPA government, will a national bandh bring solution to the problem and the
answer is a simple no.
However the question is, should be states governed by BJP support such a
call. The BJP led government in Goa has set a precedent in the state by
endorsing a bandh. During the previous regime of the Congress government
many such protests and bandhs have been held but it has not changed things
at all and I do not see any solution this time even with the state
government supporting it. What this bandhs and protests do is only worsen
rather than ease the hardships of the people.
For example menial workers like the loaders do not get their daily wage and
hence their families have to go hungry for a day. Small entrepreneurs who
have hired premises to conduct their business lose a day’s business and then
face difficulty in paying rent. Administration collapses and there are host
of other examples. And in this globalized environment can we afford the
country being held to ransom and paralyzed by some political parties in
opposition?
I know for sure that chief minister Manohar Parrikar is a workaholic and
takes his job seriously sometimes working for 18 to 20 hours a day. My
suggestion is that to allow administration go on, stop BJP supporters from
paralyzing businesses, let normal life carry on but let Manohar Parrikar not
work. He should not attend official business at CM’s residence nor touch any
official file nor attend to the public nor accept any calls. He should stay
put at his residence in Mapusa to mark his protest and support the bandh.
Can you do it Mr. Chief minister. (ENDS)
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First published in Gomantak Times, Goa - May 31, 2012
