Last week, the Goa government announced that the upcoming monsoon session of the Goa Legislative Assembly will be of a duration of just three days. The monsoon session of the legislative assembly has traditionally been the longest session of the year. It is usually held for a duration of fifteen days, spread over three weeks, except in the year when Manohar Parrikar was Chief Minister, when the session was held for 21 days, spread over five weeks.
Understandably, the opposition is outraged, and their outrage found echo, including from the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly, Ganesh Gaonkar, who said that holding a session for such a short duration was not ideal and added it should have been a month-long session so that members get time to discuss issues. It is not clear why the Goa government has decided to hold such a short session, although the chief minister, in comments made last week, seemed to suggest that there wasn’t enough business to justify a longer session.
It wasn’t too long ago that the government cut short an ongoing budget session due to the announcement of the Ponda by-election and passed the state budget in one fell swoop, thereby denying the opposition an opportunity to raise issues about each department. While curtailing the budget session, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant promised that another Assembly session would be held within six months and explicitly stated that this future session would ensure all missed debates and discussions would take place.
Lest we forget, those issues haven’t gone away. Instead, since then, they have only intensified while even more issues that need detailed responses from government departments have emerged. Be it section 39A, the government’s handling of the below-normal monsoon, fuel, failure to bring in the promised taxi aggregator policy, CAG red flags in departments like panchayat and transport. Add to these the routine issues of crumbling roads, accidents, unemployment, tourism, and rising cases of street crime.
A short session indicates an unwillingness to address these issues via a discussion in the assembly or to have the spotlight on them. When the government first began holding short sessions citing the Covid pandemic, one could have given them the benefit of the doubt. But each time, sticking to the minimum number of days of Legislative business indicates a lack of confidence.
Is this suggesting that the many bills and ordinances that they have passed between the last session and this can be discussed fairly and transparently in only three days? The government has faced criticism for rushing through important bills without allowing enough time for discussion, including bills on crucial issues, those of the government’s flagship schemes, and bills that incorporated changes that may have long-reaching effects for the state of Goa and its people.
The people of Goa deserve answers from both the government and their elected representatives regarding key constituency and state issues. With Assembly elections expected to arrive in six months, a full legislative session could have offered a critical opportunity for voters to evaluate the performance of ministers, especially those who are avoiding public and legislative scrutiny with hollow assurances every time. Unfortunately, the government's current approach suggests it is avoiding this essential democratic accountability.
