When it comes to regional plans, the guiding principle in Goa is: one step forward, two steps backwards. The Konkani terms for this back and forth movement is, ‘fuddem voch, fattim voch’. Now the new Town and Country Planning Minister Vijai Sardessai wants to take one giant leap into the future. He wants to prepare regional plan 2031. His logic is if he were to prepare a plan for 2021, he would have to start revising it before the end of his term as MLA and minister. So it makes sense to take a long-term view of the plan and Sardessai is on the right track provided he can accomplish what his predecessor could not, which is, complete the plan in one term.
Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar had announced that the plan would be ready by the end of this year. Parrikar loves deadlines even if they are unrealistic and impossible to achieve. After a three-hour briefing by the TCP department, Sardessai got the drift that it was impossible to complete the task by December. The present situation is that rectification of Sattari, Pernem and Canacona have been completed and awaiting notification. This pace of work is pathetic to say the least. The previous government had five years to re-work the plan but started only after Parrikar was dispatched to New Delhi as Defence Minister.
Given the complexities of preparing a regional plan with the bottom-top system of planning, one has to compliment former chief minister Digambar Kamat for not only appointing the late Charles Correa to lead a team to draft the plan but also complete it in five years. Sadly, Goa never said, ‘thank you’. Instead it criticised him and eventually booted him out of power. All that the Parrikar government had to do was rectify the plan, but it failed to do so. Now the burden has fallen on the young shoulders of Sardessai who has already shifted the deadline to after December.
Is it possible for a new minister with no administrative experience to push through a plan that has controversy written all over it? Sardessai is dynamic and he brings an element of freshness to the department and the government. His style of functioning is unknown, but he is making the right noises, so far. But correcting a regional plan is not going to be easy unless he lays down the ground rules very early in the game and sticks to a deadline, albeit a realistic one. By appointing Correa, Kamat managed to not only deflect criticism but bring a high level of credibility to the plan. Sardessai should pick a leaf from Kamat’s book and bring in a team of professionals with credibility to guide the process. The people who participated in the process and undertook the groundwork to make the original plan are still around. They would be of valuable help and Sardessai should not hesitate in enlisting their help, because this plan has the potential of sinking the fortunes of even the hardiest politician.
