It was the turn of Revenue Minister Atanasio Monserrate to come up with something radical that would catch the fancy of common citizens after most of the seniors in Chief Minister Pramod Sawant's cabinet holding ‘hefty’ portfolios had announced sweeping changes in respective beats. From Tourism, Power, PWD, and Sports departments, there has been an overwhelming change in approach seen at least on paper. Monserrate, on Thursday, has decided to install CCTV cameras in District Collector and Deputy Collector’s offices in the State to maintain surveillance on the work carried out.
This move may sound innovative, but experiments with CCTVs have been a failure in the State uptill now. Our existing CCTV infra which is largely defunct explains the mockery we have made in the name of surveillance. Sadly, CCTVs are not taken seriously despite the series of spine-chilling crimes, robberies and rapes, rather it has been a part of the discourse only when tragedies strike. Experiments with camera installations have failed due to lack of maintenance, and over 50 per cent of such cams installed across Goa have remained non-functional.
Secondly, the Revenue Minister’s time-bound delivery mechanism appears as vague as a shadow, given the grim ground situation. Most of the mutation and partition cases that are pending are delayed because those hearing the cases “ including mamlatdars and joint mamlatdars “ are delegated additional responsibilities. They cannot be held solely responsible for postponing hearings since they are given multiple roles, including site inspections and election-related works. The special mechanism that Monserrate is ideating must have dedicated quasi-judicial officers to hear and dispose of land cases daily. According to data available, around 16,260 mundkarial cases are pending across the State, and the number is steadily rising.
Assurances of clearing the backlog of cases in a six-month timeframe are unrealistic under the current circumstances. Former revenue minister Jennifer Monserrate failed to break fresh ground despite a fairly good run at the office. The practicalities are way different, and probably this assurance of Monserrate could go the same way as the outlandish one on casinos where he had promised to shift the vessels out of Mandovi within 100 days after being in power.
By opening up to his plans, Monserrate has acknowledged the ills within the system. However, for a system that is embroiled in corruption, the Revenue Minister will have to be more pragmatic and look for practical solutions. Public feedback is crucial, and hence there is a need for an independent redressal and helpline mechanism for aggrieved citizens to which they can take recourse in times of distress. Currently, people have helplessly surrendered to a highly corrupt system. If the Revenue Minister feels that he can monitor the malpractices via CCTVs and clear the mess, then he is highly mistaken, because these 'sins' are well orchestrated and obviously away from prying eyes. If Monserrate genuinely has a mind to clean the system, he certainly has a job cut out.
