Should we initiate a national debate involving all political parties as to whether a Minister with a conflict of interests or any vested interest in a department should be given the portfolio in that area?
The recent unscrupulous trend of Ministers demanding and lobbying for particular plum portfolios is a matter of concern. All portfolios are equally important and the Minister has to try and do justice to them. What makes it worse is the tantrums thrown. It is now clear that politics is no longer a mission of serving the people but a business with all wanting to grab the cream. If consensus cannot be reached perhaps the Supreme Court should rule on this issue while also deciding whether tainted politicians should be allowed to be ministers and get the comfort of vehicles with tinted glass. The argument that if a Minister has practical knowledge and experience in the field he would be able to perform better is debatable. His prejudiced mind in the field could be detrimental to him doing justice to the portfolio. He may not be able to perform with a free, fair and independent mind on various issues pertaining to the portfolio. Ministers do not have to be geniuses on the subject matter of the portfolio they handle as they are privileged to be guided by an expert well trained team of IAS, IPS officers and other civil service officers. Goa's first Chief Minister the late Dayanand Bandodkar did not have a Bachelor's degree and neither was he an IIT but in my personal opinion, with his limitations, proved himself the most able Chief Minister in Goa's history. Besides Goa, Bandodkar had to administer Daman and Diu and did not have a dozen cabinet positions to dish out. Neither did he have Chairmanships of scores of Corporations to pacify and sedate MLAs with. He had a sincere desire to serve Goa and this he did to the best of his ability. One would have to deliberate whether it would be ideal to have a lawyer as Law Minister, a trawler owner as a Fisheries minister, a builder as Town and Country planning Minister,a doctor as health minister, a bus owner as the transport minister and a newspaper publisher as Information Minister. If knowledge and practical experience of the subject matter of the department is all that is pertinent then Veerappan would have been the best forest Minister, Dawwod Ibrahim an ideal candidate for Home Minister and Abdul Karim Telgi would have been the front runner for the post of Revenue Minister. Goa's health portfolio has over the last few years been handled by two able doctors, Wilfred de Souza and Suresh Amonkar. How do we then account for the total chaos of Goa's hospitals? Since one has to spend over a crore to be elected as an MLA there is no hope that any pauper would make it to the Legislative Assembly. So we will have no ideal Minister for Provedoria or Social welfare. Many MLAs of Dayanand Bandodkar's times died as paupers. Today's MLAs have stacked enough for themselves and their coming generations. Their families could be assured of not having to undergo any financial hardship at least. Aires Rodrigues ___________________________________________________________ How much free photo storage do you get? Store your holiday snaps for FREE with Yahoo! Photos http://uk.photos.yahoo.com