Goan Government Giveaways.

By Mr. Plastino D'Costa
Most Goans blame our corrupt leaders for squandering Goa's wealth and hold them responsible for the sorry state of affairs today. But truth to tell, to some extent ordinary Goans must also learn to take the responsibility, as they are equally culpable for the mess. As if Goa were some prosperous nation, successive governments have been promoting welfare schemes, some genuine and important, but most conjured and unnecessary. Politicians have over the years been neatly packaging welfare schemes which are not necessarily in the best interests of the population. Actually most politicians get away with inefficiencies, because they have been regularly feeding the population with giveaways that look beneficial in the short term but will end up detrimental in the long term. Politicians who can dish out innovative schemes in the name of the poor are assured their seat in the sun.

One such innovation, probably influenced by the US social security system, was our very own local social security scheme, meant for the aged, needy and the poor. This scheme has been openly abused by most Goans, dead or alive, rich or poor, old or not so old. Officials handling the scheme will tell you that in order to qualify for the scheme, most Goans go to the extent of lying to prove that they have no source of income, in spite of receiving fat transfers from their overseas children. Of course the government tries to check the credentials of the applicants, but that has not stopped some high net-worth Goans from receiving this dole money. The scheme, even if well-intentioned, hardly serves the purpose of taking care of our old and needy. Actually what is a thousand rupees in this environment of high cost-living? It hardly goes far for the receiver, but instead puts a collective financial burden on the giver. This scheme can only be compared to the bait a fish takes - the amount of food on the bait can never fill the stomach of the fish, and everybody knows what happens when the fish takes the bait.

Over the years the government has been one of the biggest employers of Goa, with politicians mostly acting as recruiting agents. Once Goans get employed in any government department by hook or by crook, that day they effectively forget the meaning of competence, integrity or hard work. In fact, once armed with a government job, they slowly learn the art of delay and put obstacles in the already entangled government procedures. There could be some who start sincerely, only to find out that there is no reward for sincerity. The government must realise that they can't solve the problem of unemployment by increasing the headcount of their already overstaffed departments by creating jobs of the synthetic variety. Most employees hardly add value to their departments; instead they are involved in duplication of work, unnecessary processes, or maybe employed to run personal errands for their immediate bosses. Even the government offices' seating arrangements do not synchronise the paper flow or the process of the department. Of course most government employees hardly bother to look into their consciences when they collect their heavy pay packets, which never reflect the work they do.

Ideally, school education should be considered a necessary expenditure of the government, hoping that students availing this free facility become productive citizens of society, and in turn pay back this subsidy in the form of taxes into the system. In Goa this turns out to be wasteful expenditure because a majority of these students end up becoming productive citizens outside Goa. To make sure Goans don't get an education, which might end up being detrimental to the interest of our leaders, an impractical condition of medium of instruction has been placed on schools to be able to avail the grant-in-aid. Without painting all parents with the same brush, there are some parents who spend their own money in sending their children to unaided english medium schools. These parents are not necessarily rich, as projected by many, but have made education a priority for their children. If wealth, or the lack of it, is the only criteria to avail free education in the state, then the government should close down most aided schools, as children from these schools do not necessarily come from poor backgrounds. The government is advised to make a survey at strategic aided school locations to observe how many children are dropped to their schools in the latest SUVs, sedans or hatchbacks.

Of course the wasteful expenditure on the population does not stop there. Pass around some of the villages of Goa and we notice small yellow toilets being built at Government cost, that too beside some very decent houses. Of course these are used as supplementary toilets to the fancy toilets that might exist in these decent homes. In some villages these toilets are so dense that they run the risk of becoming part of the culture of the village. But what is culture to these Goans, who have already pawned that to Mr Vijay Mallya by allowing him to paint their villages in red?

Ideally every government is supposed to take care of the welfare of their citizens, but for that to happen the government must have a robust revenue model. The Goa Government has been literally pampering Goans, and, to finance all these giveaways, those in the government in power as well as those in the Opposition are at the mercy of the hotel, mining and gambling lobby. No wonder most of our leaders are seen bending rules literally every single day to accommodate these lobbies - after all, like it or not, these businesses are the ones that bring in the money. The government, to balance their bills of payments, resorts to collection of taxes from businesses which might be environmentally unsound or morally unethical. Because of the nexus between politicians and the population scratching each others back, Generation-Next politicians will have to formulate a meaningful and honest way to win elections. The ill effects of receiving giveaways from politicians might work not be visible for a decade or two, but if we are concerned about Goa for the long term, then the general population should get their act together. The politicians will follow.

Above Article appeared on the Herald, Goa on December 14, 2009.