The fine print of Chief Minister Pramod Sawant's budget proposals makes interesting reading. Penned on the principle of "Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas", Sawant has made an over-ambitious attempt to win Sabka Vishwas. Could this document win the trust of the people of Goa? The roadmap is in line with his vision of Swayampurna Goem, the CM invoked former US President John F Kennedy with his famous quote: "As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest form of appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them." The million-dollar question is whether the government can live up to the promises it has made in the budget.
The fiscal condition of the State is in contrast to what the government portrays even as the CM assures to bring in financial discipline and curtail borrowing. But against the backdrop of the lavish plans projected, one wonders how Sawant can afford to accomplish targets without further borrowings. These numbers will find no meaning if there are no provisions made and meeting these expenditure targets would be a herculean task, especially given the current economic slowdown.
Some of Sawant's initiatives are undoubtedly positive and must be welcome. On the education front, the move to provide free counselling to students of St X and XII and plans to introduce coding and robotics are encouraging and need to be put into action on a priority basis. But to pursue this, the government will have to scout for relevant human resource including programmers in the field. Also, with the education sector changing with the National Education Policy, a complete overhaul is needed rather than hand-picking a few subjects. The idea of raising aptitude and employability quotient can only be factored in when the new policy comes into force.
Enhancing network connectivity, which is the pressing need of the hour across all sectors, especially in Education, has not been given the emphasis it deserved. One of the major issues that the education sector is facing today is the connectivity issue. Strengthening networks and providing seamless connectivity should have been the topmost priority. Sawant has only disclosed vague plans of seeking assistance from the Centre under the Bharat Net Project and connect to the National Optical Fibre Network.
In yet another move to garner political mileage, the government has decided to provide one-time free digital meters to commercial taxis. The High Court had made it mandatory to install digital taxi meters and it is beyond logic that Sawant is offering it for free. At a time when there is a raging taxi war simmering against app-based taxi service GoaMiles in the background, it appears that the goodie is to solely win over the agitated taxi lobby.
The promise to hotmix all roads which are in bad condition in the next four months appears unrealistic. With the election code for the second phase of municipal elections around the corner, the tendering process will be halted till the end of April, giving the PWD only the month of May to roll out such works before the monsoon sets in.
The hurry behind inaugurating the 500-bedded new South Goa District Hospital in May is surprising, especially when the State is still in the midst of the Covid attack with positive cases surging once again. There are ambitious plans for creating jobs, both in the government and private sectors, but there is no financial provision made to meet the additional human resource cost on government jobs.
Numerous initiatives in the budget papers are meant to create goodwill and defy fiscal logic. On paper, they sound appealing, but in the absence of details the sincerity appears suspicious.
