...this can only be done by getting more involved in the happenings, not sitting in our halls and discussing politics only at dinners (where food and fish especially, is the priority).

Most self-respecting Goans are happy with the President’s rule. They feel that there is less noise (no sirens blaring when umpteen ministers’ cars whiz by) and more work. Punctuality too, as far as the government staff is concerned, and, of course, Lt Gen J F R Jacob is known to make surprise visits to keep the bureaucrats on their toes. A story was doing the rounds that he himself went to a matka joint to place a bet but it is just an exaggeration. “I gave orders to stop it,” he told me but that extra bit, about how he did it, is typical of how news gets blown out of proportion. A case of putting two and two together and getting twenty-two.

There is little doubt that the Governor is an efficient and straight-forward person. Then, being a bachelor, is another advantage. he does not become part of the System. He mentioned an instance of setting up a Buildings Clearance Committee (BCC) for the Panchayats in each of the 11 talukas. It consists of a Block Development Official (BDO) and officials in the following five fields: health, water, town planning, PWD and revenue plus 10 Sarpanchas, who meet once every fortnight (first Monday) to go into building proposals or road projects. “By this, we are moving some decision-making from the Secretariat to the Collectorate...the bane of functioning in Goa is overcentralisation of authority, we are trying to decentralise authority,” says Jacob, who is keen on removing the existing hurdles in all the functioning bodies of the government.

But the Panchayat system is anything but sound, the way it is in operation. Don’t we all know how recently the power from the Sarpanch was withdrawn and given to the bureaucrat. Then, the Zilla Parishad and Panchayat elections should be held simultaneously so that power rests with the Zilla Parishad and not the MLA as at present. Actually, it is the MLA, who should be trying to gain the goodwill of the people, not having the people come to him for their just dues.

But Jacob himself says President’s rule is a temporary measure. “As far as I am concerned, we have recommended early elections. In a democracy, you can’t expect President’s rule to go on for too long. All parties have given me, in writing, their desire to have an early election,” Jacob said. The report has been tabled in the Parliament, so it is now up to the government and the Election Commission to carry it out, it seems. But with Delhi being in limbo (and turmoil too) with no government in office, it is not easy to envisage elections in Goa. But then that might just be a possibility--guess, anything is possible in love, war and Goa politics. Which would mean it would be back to Square One with our politicians coming back to power and making up for lost time.

Jacob spoke at length on a number of issues. About the poor condition of health servicesErvell E. MenezesErvell E. Menezes, the sub-standard hospitals we have, the absence of an angiography unit (Goans or people living in Goa have to go all the way to another city for angiography and could very likely die on the way), the poor sewage conditions (are people aware that Mapuca is still without a proper sewage system?), the transport system and its far from efficient functioning, but will he be able to handle these delicate (and untouched for in decades) issues before he finishes his term as the “night-watchman”?

Governor Which means that we, Goans, have over the years, nay decades, lulled ourselves into this limbo of corruption. Nothing moves without “greasing palms". Sadly, that seems to have become our culture today. And that is because of our duplicity. We will criticise corruption but are the first to offer a bribe. It is all very well to say that Goans were honest and hospitable people. This was when land was available for a few odd rupees per square metre about half a century ago. Today (after the hippies “discovered” Goa in the late 1960s) land prices are so high that Goans will not hesitate to sell their mothers or diddle their brothers in order to sell their ancestral land. Today there are so many loopholes in the laws that getting a piece of land converted from agricultural to non-agricultural land will provide enough money for even the next generation to live. Just walk into any Town & Country Planning Office and it is busier than a fish market.

What about jobs? Isn’t there any asking rate for a job. It’s a simple law of supply and demand and if one does get a job, they say, it takes over a year to break even or pay back the “promised money”. Look at the discrepancy between hotels and rent-backs. Why should rent-backs not be taxed for water and electricity. As far as the owners are concerned, they are as much commercial establishments as the hotels. That they are in a much poorer condition than the hotels is another matter altogether. But in Goa, turning a nelson’s eye has its price. So even if one makes an issue of it and it appears in the newspapers there is no guarantee that the grievance will be redressed. Take the case of those airport taxis charging such exorbitant rates with the blessings of the government. In Bombay, a taxi from any area (Bandra, Colaba, Byculla) can go to the airport and stand in a queue. Not in Goa. Only the Vasco-Mormugao cabbies are allowed at the airport. It was pointed out to Subhash Shirodkar when he was the Transport Minister in 1995. “I am Minister only for the last four months, I must apply my mind,” he told me. He continued for over two years but no, nothing happened. May be he had no mind “of his own or otherwise” and the issue is still languishing. Pratapsing Rane and Dr Wilfred de Souza, as Chief Ministers, also promised to look into it, but in vain.

Which means the government never really functions. It has to wait for the courts to take most of its decisions. But then they saw we get the government we deserve because it is we who elect it. All this can only be done by getting more involved in the happenings, not sitting in our halls and discussing politics only at dinners (where food and fish especially, is the priority). We have certainly reached the “now or never” stage. Wake up from the lethargy or slumber (like Rip Wan Winkle) and take an active interest in what is going on around us, be it the Panchayat or the Comunidade or whatever. Set up citizens’ vigilance committees (Siolim had one, I went and met them over a year ago). It is only then that we can expect change and we will be partners in our own destiny.

^gnErvell E. Menezes