CM PARRIKAR IS CHALLENGED BY AIRES.

CHIEF MINISTER MANOHAR PARRIKAR SHOULD PROVE HIS ALLEGATION



By Aires Rodrigues
Am today publicly challenging Goa Chief Minister Mr. Manohar Parrikar to prove his allegation that I have been using the Right to Information Act to blackmail. Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar while addressing BJP workers in Panaji yesterday accused me of attempting to blackmail him.
I was not born in an indigent family. Over the years have spent my own time and money raising public issues. Let Mr. Parrikar give details of even a single paisa that I may have illegally accepted and also show where it has been deposited as claimed by him. .
Mr. Manohar Parrikar should uphold and maintain the dignity and decorum of the high constitutional post he is holding. Being the Chief Minister he should not stoop to a street fighter’s level with such cheap gimmicks.
If the swearing in ceremony was held at Raj Bhavan the cost would have been a few thousands only. I reiterate that the 11 lakhs spent on the March 9th function held at SAG grounds was a criminal waste of public funds. In public interest this issue would be raised before the Goa Lokayukta. If Mr. Parrikar was keen on holding that extravaganza, its cost should have been borne by his party and should not have burdened the tax payer.
I have always -- and selflessly -- taken every issue raised to a logical end. It is Mr. Manohar Parrikar infact who has to explain to the people of Goa about his very suspicious U-turn on Casinos, illegal mining and his hoax of zero tolerance to corruption.
I have been in public life fighting against corruption and injustice for almost four decades now, much before Mr. Manohar Parrikar had even entered politics. Have never shied away from raising issues against successive governments, without fear or favour, and the present Chief Minister too should respect this fundamental right of every citizen.

One wonders whether the Chief Minister’s ego was hurt after the fiasco of Alina Saldanha’s proposed cabinet induction. I had raised the issue solely in public interest as Mr. Manohar Parrikar was committing a political impropriety.
Way back in 2001, the then Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar had appointed me as Vice- Chairman of the NRI facilitation Centre, which position I had declined to accept as I did not want to be indebted to any politician and compromise my freedom to speak out against corruption and nepotism.

Mr. Manohar Parrikar should realize that we are in a democracy and not an autocracy. The Chief Minister’s attempt to stifle the voice of opposition and constructive criticism is deplorable.
I admit that I had been a BJP fan for the last many years, because of my friend Mr. Shripad Naik. I confess that I only realized my mistake, based on the first hand experience at the 2011 CCP elections that the party was extremely communal and that Mr. Manohar Parrikar was a person that could not be trusted.
Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar is trying to fool Goans with promises that can never be fulfilled. The people of Goa would be witness and true judges of this government’s communal and fascist hidden agenda.

TOWARDS AN EFFECTIVE LOKAYUKTA.

By Aires Rodrigues

With the Goa Lokayukta bill now a Law the decks have cleared for the setting up the long awaited Anti-Corruption Ombudsman Authority in the State that will investigate acts of corruption and mal administration by public servants. Proper rules would also have to be framed to ensure the appropriate functioning of the Goa Lokayukta.

With over two months spent on just obtaining the President of India’s assent to the bill, the Chief Minister Mr. Manohar Parrikar will not fulfill his election promise that the Lokayukta would be functional in 100 days.

Under the guise of meeting that deadline there is no point making haste in the appointment that may lead to an inappropriate person heading this crucial authority. The success of this entire anti-corruption mechanism would depend to a large extent on the personal qualities such as the image, caliber, drive, persuasive power, dynamism, and the perception of his role by the Lokayukta. In a State embroiled in rampant corruption the position of Lokayukta cannot be a mere post retirement posting. The incumbent would have to be vibrant, fully charged and geared to attack the cancer of Corruption.

It would be appropriate for the politicians in power to leave the selection of the Goa Lokayukta to the High Court and the Governor. The required consultation with the High Court by the Chief Minister on the selection cannot be a mere cosmetic exercise. It is imperative that the Goa Lokayukta should have total administrative, financial and functional independence of the Government. Otherwise there could be an impediment to the effective functioning of the Lokayukta in pursuing cases of corruption and malpractices against the Government in power. The Lokayukta should be an independent authority to curb corruption by expeditiously investigating the complaints followed by the prompt prosecution of the offenders. It cannot be a toothless watch dog.

The politicians have become so accustomed to manipulating the Police and the Vigilance departments that they may attempt to interfere with the working of the Lokayukta too. This will have to be fiercely and firmly resisted.

It is the Lokayukta that should be entrusted the screening and selection of the entire team of officers and staff that will work under his direction. This would prevent infiltration of party cadres into the Lokayukta whose entire staff must be of impeccable integrity and extra-ordinary ability.

The Old Secretariat at Panaji could be considered to house the Lokayukta. The proposal to use those premises as a Museum should be reconsidered as it would just create further congestion in an already crowded city. The former seat of power would be an appropriate venue for the setting up of the Goa Lokayukta to probe the misdeeds of the current and past rulers.

The issue whether a Goan should head the Goa Lokayukta has to be examined in a wider perspective. Being a small state there could be occasions of conflict of interest with people here closely connected. The family, friend or acquaintance relationships should not prejudice the functioning of the Lokayukta. Also the Lokayukta would have no room to recuse and say “Not before me”.

All said and done it would be better to have a Goan Lokayukta than someone from another State having a political party leaning or worse still an RSS connection or someone being rewarded for some past favours - political or otherwise.

The Chief Minister has publicly stated that he would prefer a ‘local’. Whether he is serious on the same or merely an eye-wash will be clear more particularly since it is however rumoured that Mr. Manohar Parrikar has zeroed on and is inclined towards a retired Bombay High Judge Mr. V.R. Kingaonkar hailing from Maharastra’s Jalna district to be Goa’s first Lokayukta.

The Lokayukta is the government’s conscience, an anti-graft ombudsman at the state-level born out of a need to instill a sense of public confidence in the transparency and credibility of the administrative machinery. While corruption has always been an issue, the levels of corruption have now reached such proportions that the sky seems to be the limit. It has vitiated and affected the morale of the entire administration.

The famous Sanskrit proverb says “Yatha Raja Tatha Praja” (As is the King so are the People). Corruption as it seeps from the top, has rapidly contaminated the lower layers of social and political life. We have witnessed how it has corroded and eaten into the vitals of almost every sphere of the socio-political structure. A Lokayukta of caliber, character, moral strength and conviction may go a long way to remedy the sordid state of affairs Goa finds itself enveloped in.

( the writer can be contacted on 9822684372 or airesrodrigues@yahoo.com )

IS PARRIKAR WASTING PUBLIC MONEY??

SWEARING-IN EXTRAVAGANZA OF THE CHIEF MINISTER WAS A 11 LAKH BURDEN ON THE TAX PAYER

By Aires Rodrigues

The March 9th swearing in ceremony of Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar held at Sports Authority of Goa (SAG) grounds at Campal cost the State exchequer a whopping Rs 10, 91,782. This has been revealed in the information furnished under the Right to Information by the General Administration department at the Secretariat.

The file notings reveal that the Mr. Manohar Parrikar had on 7th March evening decided that his swearing in ceremony should be on 9th March at 5pm at the S.A.G grounds. The Chief Minister had stated that more than 12000 people would attend the function and had directed the Secretariat officials that each invitee be served a half litre water bottle, one pedda and also either a batata vada or patti.

Accordingly an amount of Rs 66,000 was spent on 222 kgs of peddas which were purchased at Rs 300 a kg. while Rs 93,120 was spent on the water bottles. An expenditure of Rs 48,000 was incurred on 6000 batata vadas while another Rs 48,000 was spent on the 6000 vegetable patties.

The documents obtained under the Right to Information Act further reveals that Rs 25,000 was spent on the services of 100 students of Catering College Porvorim requisitioned to serve the refreshments to the 12000 invitees. A further expenditure of Rs 12850 was incurred on the two Kadamba Transport Corporation buses hired to transport those 100 Catering college students from Porvorim to S.A.G grounds at Campal and back.

The pandal, stage, sound system and seating arrangement for the swearing in ceremony cost the tax payer a further Rs 7,98,212. which includes Rs 63,415 spent on flower decoration for the stage and Rs 72,270 on hire of 5500 chairs.

It has also been informed that no prior permission of the Sports Authority of Goa and the Corporation of City of Panaji was obtained to hold the swearing in ceremony function on SAG grounds at Campal.

While Mr. Manohar Parrikar along with five cabinet Ministers were sworn in on March 9th, another six Ministers were sworn in a month later on April 8th at a customary function at Raj Bhavan. One more cabinet Minister is expected to be inducted after the Cortalim Assembly bye election which is scheduled on 4th June.

The 11 lakhs squandered on the 9th March swearing in ceremony was a sheer waste of public funds. Mr. Manohar Parrikar while in Opposition had alleged that the State coffers were empty but himself chose to unnecessarily further burden the tax payer on his very first day in office. There is a need for accountability and transparency in every paisa spent from the State treasury. Such wasteful expenditure of public funds was inexplicable, unjustifiable and unpardonable.