LAWLESS FIGHT AGAINST LAWLESSNESS IN THE STATE

PANJIM: The functioning of the state government came in for severe criticism from two of the ruling legislators, who, while participating in discussion on motion of thanks to the Governor’s address delivered to the House on Monday, brought out various shortcomings of the government, even as the opposition members ‘pointed’ out cases of mis-governance.

Mr Dayanand Narvekar, Congress MLA from Aldona, during his speech that lasted nearly an hour, criticised the government for its failure to tackle the drug menace and police-drug dealers nexus, policemen caught selling drugs, etc. He also raised the issue of the morality in politics and asked the government whether it was protecting "criminal" politicians.

But in the right sense it appears that these two MLA’s both of them are themselves law breakers of all sorts. Narvekar started JOBS for sale and Mickky Pacheco has broken every law in the law book and even more. So how can two law breakers or lawless persons fight against the lawlessness in the state is the question asked by many of the public

He pointed that in view of various criminal activities recorded, the state has been losing tourists and the flow of tourists, both domestic and foreign, has come down "drastically." He criticised the government for sleeping over these burning issues, adding that no action has been taken to act against the politicians involved in criminal acts.

Raising the question of illegal mining in the state, he asked why no corrective steps were being taken to contain environmental degradation. He further said that a probe should be held to find out who was responsible for grant of 91 additional mining projects in Goa, even as he called for stoppage of transportation of iron ore from Maharashtra.

Mr Narvekar urged the government to stop all the projects envisaged under Public-Private Partnership, especially those related to health care sector, as they were not in the interest of the state. He accused the government of neglecting the health care sector and urged it not to play with the health of the people.

Stating that corruption was rampant in various departments, he called upon the government to introduce the Accountability and Responsibility Bill, so as to ensure that the files were cleared in a time-bound manner.

Mr Francisco Xavier Pacheco, Nationalist Congress party MLA from Benaulim, pointed that there was strong evidence of police-drug dealers’ nexus and wondered why no action was being taken. Referring to the statement of the Home Minister, Mr Ravi Naik, that the opposition members were also involved in drug cases, he wondered why no action was being taken against them.

He went on to state that if the Home Minister’s statement was wrong, then he should be punished for abetment of crime. He also said that government has remained unmoved for the last four years on the issue of drug charges. He demanded that the Chief Minister, Mr Digambar Kamat, should take action in the excise scam, even as he urged the Speaker, Mr Pratapsing Rane, to guide the government using his vast experience.

Mr Damodar Naik, BJP legislator from Fatorda, charged the government of trying to mislead the people through the Governor’s address by projecting that all was well in the state. He said that the government was incapable of addressing the issue facing the state, even as he charged that the state was being "looted" and said that the state has to be protected at all costs.

He also charged that the government was turning a blind eye to the issue of drugs adding that the state was getting a bad name in the process. He also pointed out that corruption was very much prevalent in government departments.

While the Congress legislators, Mr Francisco Silveira (Agasaim), Mr Pratap Gawas (Pale) and Mr Aleixo Reginaldo Lourenco (Curtorim) praised the efforts of the government in bringing all round development, the opposition MLAs, Mr Ramesh Tawadkar (Poiguinnim), Mr Anand Shet (Mayem), Mr Dilip Parulekar (Saligao) and Mr Rajesh Patnekar (Bicholim), criticised the government for its various failures.