Sudin Dhavlikar is Goa’s PWD Minister and Dayanand Mandrekaris Goa’s Water Resources Minister. With utmost respect to both the honourableministers, let it be said that if a thorough background check is done on thepast performances of Parrikar’s, both of them have had a brush withcontroversy. Coincidentally both ministers are in charge of departments whichhave, as investigations of The Goan have proved, become nerve centres ofofficial corruption. The onus is on these two to clean their departmentsbecause they pose the biggest challenge to their Chief Ministers zero toleranceto corruption mantra.
A continuous probe by The Goan to unearth thousands ofdocuments from the PWD and water resources departments, regarding the manner inwhich rampant tenders were allotted, manipulated, inflated, flouting rules andnorms, under the express instructions of ministers and MLAs has laid bare not justthe apparent corruption but the sheer shamelessness of the political class.
When 64 crores of tenders is allotted in two days in just onedivision of the PWD, it reeks of shamelessness. When there is a cost escalationin over 98% of the projects, it reeks of shamelessness. When 7 crores isallotted for the de-silting of 2 nullahs, it reeks of shamelessness. Whenproject estimates are scored out and new escalated figures written without anysanction, it reeks of shamelessness. When the then PWD Minister (ChurchillAlemao) directs the Water Resources Department (WRD) to tender projects withoutany local demand and the WRD works overtime to clear them before the assemblycode of conduct, it reeks of shamelessness.
But there is an even greater shamelessness. The current PWDMinister, Dhavlikar, announced, “I have ordered a vigilance inquiry”, way backin August and then when questioned in September he backtracked and says “Imeant the vigilance wing of the PWD”. This erodes all hope. This is nothing but a blatant untruth. And even ifwere to take the minister at face value, he falls short here too since noinstruction has been given even to the vigilance wing of the PWD to do aninquiry.
For Mandrekar, let him spare us further angst by crackingdown on projects for which crores were sanctioned and not a single brick hasbeen laid or a machine started. We can’t shame ourselves any further.
