The following editorial appeared in the 'Oherald'
newspaper of date (refer: www.oherald.com)
As part of the democratic system of government we
have created a statutory authority called the
comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) to
audit the accounts of all government departments and
to make recommendations for corrections. The reports
of the CAG are required to be placed before Parliament
or on the table of the respective Legislative
Assemblies and have to be debated by the House. These
reports are meant to inform the public about how the
government has performed during the previous
(financial) year. Unfortunately, the Governments have
managed to circumvent the recommendations made by the
CAG. There are innumerable instances where scathing
indictments made by the Comptroller and Auditor
General against a particular government have simply
been ignored and no action has been taken on the
recommendations made. It is high time, therefore, that
the citizens galvanized themselves into action and
made a public audit of the performance of their
government.
The just concluded, International Film Festival of
India 2004 (IFFI) in Goa typifies the danger which
democracy faces if the government is allowed to make
decisions which are contrary to the established
procedures which have been put in place to ensure
transparency. The government decided that hosting the
film festival in Goa was good for the Goans and good
also for India. This decision was taken without any
consultations with the people of Goa. The rationale
for this decision was never made public. The
implications of this decision were not considered -
except, perhaps, that hosting an International Film
Festival would bring prestige to Goa, and would
increase the tourist traffic to this small State.
Paedophilia, which was detected in Goa many years ago,
and which was clearly linked to the tourist inflow,
has now become epidemic and is highly organized. It is
international in its ramifications, and is facilitated
by the Internet. The vigilance of
private citizens and of some voluntary organizations
helped to bring a few paedophiles to book; but the
extent of this anti-social activity is massive, and no
one can yet guess at its magnitude. In spite of this,
the Government, which has consistently failed to
protect the innocence of its children, has made a big
brouhaha about hosting the IFFI in Goa, as if this is
a feather in its cap. This procedure of floating
tenders for the different civil works was completely
ignored by the Government while allocating contracts
for many public works associated with the hosting of
the IFFI, with the result that many projects were
accomplished at exorbitant cost. Even worse, the
contractors were given the liberty of providing their
own specifications. The Chief Minister has promised to
make the statement of
expenditures public, but this does not satisfy the
criteria laid out in the Governments own procedure
for the allocation of public works. There are
overwhelming reasons to believe that many of the
projects were completed at costs that are far above
reasonable expectations. It has been discovered that
the entire cost of the construction of the Kala
Academy did not exceed Rs 5 crore; but the cost of
renovation and refurbishment of the Academy for the
IFFI cost the public exchequer over Rs 24 crore.
Similarly, research has revealed that there are
about 100 multiplexes all over India - all of them
built by private enterprise -, and not one of them
cost more than Rs 5 crore, whereas the multiplex
constructed by the Goa Government in Panjim for the
IFFI cost a whopping Rs 24 crore. This raises serious
questions about the manner in which the decisions were
made, and the criteria used to give the contract to a
particular company, viz. INOX. In particular, the fact
that the multiplex was built out of public funds
raises serious questions about the repeated statements
made by the government that it did not
have the funds to clean up the storm-water drainage
canal in Panjim, or to upgrade the sewage treatment
plant in Tonca. Quite obviously, the government has
got its priorities all skewed up. This is an
indication of the topsy- turvey priorities of the
government, reminiscent of the neglect of its citizens
by the French monarchy prior to the revolution. Marie
Antoinette is reported to have told
her advisors that if the people did not have bread to
eat, they should be asked to live on cakes. The
similarity with IFFI in Goa is striking. Since the
citizens of Panjim lack basic health facilities, the
government has made extraordinary efforts to provide
them with entertainment to distract their attention.
Entertainment becomes meaningful and acceptable only
after these primary needs are satisfied.
It is a matter of great shame that the two prestigious
institutions of the Government of Goa, viz. the
University of Goa, and the Goa Medical College and
Hospital are in a shambles. The University is moribund
and on the
