PANJIM: After facing flak from its coalition partners on the issue of grants to the English medium primary schools, the government, on Tuesday, found itself at the receiving end of its own MLA’s ire too. On Tuesday, ex- minister and Aldona MLA, Mr Dayanand Narvekar alleged that the government does not believe in transparency or democracy and literally accused the Chief Minister and government of inefficiency, in a letter to the state Congress president, Mr Subhash Shirodkar.
The ex-minister wanted the Lokayukt bill to be immediately brought before the Assembly and passed so that the rampant corruption in the administration and government be curtailed "as there is no accountability at present and corruption is at the highest."
Hitting out at the vigilance department, Mr Narvekar accused it of sitting on hundreds of cases and alleged that disposal is not taking place due to political interference.
"The criminals who attacked activists … like Sunil Kauntantkar (NSUI), Nilesh Gaokar, fighting against mining, Umesh Phadte, against illegalities, etc were not arrested in spite of the hue and cry of the people of Goa," and added that those who have "spoken against illegalities, have been harassed by the government or have been assaulted by criminals. The criminals were sheltered as in case of the Serula communidade."
Stating that the announcement by the Chief Minister that he was giving grants to ST and special recruitment drives for them spoke about his non-performance for the "last 4 years," Mr Narvekar alleged that the demand of OBCs for 27 per cent reservation as per central government policy and the assembly’s unanimous resolution to that effect has "been given a cold shoulder by you, which speaks volumes for your dedication to the so called aam admis of Goa."
In an earlier letter to the Chief Minister, the ex-minister has criticised the government for not taking any interest in providing infrastructure for tourism, lamenting that tourism is the biggest revenue earner and provides a lot of employment to the locals.
The Aldona MLA also wanted the government, as a way to improve accountability, to issue a fine to officials who keep applications or files pending for more than 4 days and direct ministers not to keep files pending for more than a week and argued that there were a number of reported cases where mamlatdars, police officials and other such bureaucrats were asking for bribes at each and every stage for giving even clearances or certificates. - NT
Narvenkar may be having a point, but these rantings are a sign of things to come. If grapevine is to be believed then Narvenkar has already got one foot in the BJP and is just waiting for a credible excuse to quit from the Congress. So he is merely building his case to make his exit justifiable. It is believed that his entry into the BJP has the blessings of Mannooo.
ReplyDeleteIt remains to be seen whether his brand of politics has space in the BJP. Even Manooo will have to be always on his toes by having a master strategist and manipulator like Narvenkar in his fold.
Could this be the beginning of the end of BJP in Goa?