Soon after Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched
his cashless drive, Union Defence Minister Manohar
Parrikar had a meeting with top bureaucrats of
the State government and bankers to chart a course
towards a cashless Goa. It seemed ambitions then
and even now because the State was never ahead on the digital
curve. It was and still is more of a follower than a leader
on e-governance. The delay by the Goa Medical College in
taking OPD patient appointments online is an example why
the State is behind the digital curve. A system to enable online
registration was launched in July this year by the Central government
and 60 hospitals joined this portal to make it easier
for patients to take appointments, reduce the rush at hospitals
and get rid of the queue system which had become a bigger
problem than the disease itself. So far, 5.22 lakh appointments
have been taken through this system.
For a State that aspires to be a
model for others, the fact that the
government could not take advantage
of the digital portal launched
by the Centre is embarrassing. Was
it lack of initiative on the part of
the government? Or was it a lack of
funds? One could blame it on the
absence of will to go digital. There seems to be a kind of inertia
that keeps the state from marching forward in the use of
digital tools to speed-up work in government offices and ease
the burden of people who have to put up with inefficiency and
delays. One might recall how the effort of a former chief officer
of the Margao Municipal Council to digitize the administration
was thwarted by councilors who felt a loss of power.
On the other hand, it is not as though the government has
been sleeping. Water and power bills can now be paid online.
Traders and manufacturers also have the option of paying taxes
online. Several forms are available at the click of a mouse,
but the State is still a long way from being either cashless or
digitizing the administration.
Online registration of patients at the GMC should have been
a priority as it would have eased the queues which begin to
form as early as five in the morning. This archaic system has
given rise to a new brand of entrepreneurs who reserve a place
in the queue for a fee. The GMC administration is aware of this
situation. Given this state of affairs, the government should
have grabbed the option to go online when it was presented in
July, but five months have gone by and nothing has happened.
The GMC Dean has promised to accomplish this task in another
month, but with elections round the corner and the code of
conduct likely to kick in, would politicians allow the GMC to
register a significant achievement without taking credit for it?
In the era of digital giants Goa is still a dwarf.
