Chief Minister Pramod Sawant’s idea to launch a web page on the government’s official portal for budget suggestions from public is a welcome move but for the wrong timing, it has been reduced to a mere farce.
If this is the chief minister’s idea of participative governance, then it goes without saying that it’s an eyewash. The budget session is just a week away and asking for public opinion with an assurance that it could be incorporated in the budget is an attempt to pull wool over the eyes of people who have lately been questioning the establishment.
It is not possible to include any such suggestions, no matter how significant they are, at such short notice. Practice has it that proposals are routed through respective departments. It is only after scrutiny and study that they are referred back to the CM for appropriate decision. With the snail’s pace that departments are known to work, this is an exercise in futility at this juncture.
The participative and inclusive budget which is portrayed falls flat because it is all hushed up. If there was any seriousness of people’s involvement, this plan should have been announced at least a month prior. It’s a positive sign that the government has opened channels with people and associations who have approached the CM with memorandums and emails on budget suggestions. It goes a long way to build bridges of trust with the people. However, participative exercises must be undertaken with all the seriousness and should reflect the intent. In Goa, almost every citizen has an opinion, and every activist wants to prove the administration wrong. In such a scenario, such initiatives make sense provided they are timed better.
Secondly, the chief minister has indicated that his government will focus on sustainable development while keeping an eye on every sector. This is humanly impossible because Goa is staring at a major fiscal crisis due to the mining shutdown and a failing tourism. And for yet another, Goa is waiting in hope for a financial package from the Centre to bail itself out.
Goa’s development will largely depend on available finances. In the current scenario, the government will have to eye industrial growth and look at ways to shore up tourism. The very fact that the government is ignoring unemployment, an issue that has been a worry for several years, speaks volumes of the helpless situation we are in.
We cannot live in a fool’s paradise of false prosperity when there is a struggle over finances. Our borrowings are sharply rising and yet we take comfort in the fact that it is within permissible limits. The focus has to be on boosting economic health with an eye on austerity. Web suggestions, for now, could only help in giving insights to the government on what people’s expectations are.
