The standoff over the constitution of South Goa Planning and Development Authority (SGPDA) is finally resolved. The vexed question over who gets to join the board has been the bone of contentions for some time and that has been done and dusted. But an interesting trend in recent times shows planning boards are constituted with individuals rank outsiders to the area concerned, people who are literally clueless on the area under planning. In such a case, how does it help planning?
The government has honoured its political commitment by naming the PDA chairmen and their members. Nuvem MLA Wilfred D’Sa heads SGPDA and Cuncolim MLA Clafacio Dias is the chief of Mormugao PDA. Along with them, there is inclusion of members who are not even remotely connected to the scope of work, raising doubts of the seriousness and genuineness of the planning process. Political appointees have been taking centrestage on a landscape which is alien to them. This is not a new phenomenon, it’s been happening for years together and the two previous SGPDA chairpersons and affiliated members of ministers are immediate examples in this regard. Legislators in power have been pushing their supporters on the board diluting the very purpose of planning and development.
From the planning perspective, the composition of the board at times appears peculiar. By virtue of being a strong supporter of TCP Minister Chandrakant Kavlekar, an individual in the remotest of places could find a place in the Greater Panaji PDA, or Cuncolim MLA Clafacio Dias can easily manage to get a slot for his supporter in distant Mormugao PDA. It appears that political compulsions have turned the composition into a norm and a rehabilitation den where compromises are being made overlooking the actual planning process.
The argument that senior planners are part of the board cannot justify the inclusion of these political appointees who are rank outsiders, because they are not in a position to debate, discuss and give constructive suggestions for the areas in question. From the Outline Development Plan to other land issues, a lot is on the table for discussion and it is bizarre to even imagine that individuals outside the scope of urban development are drawing templates for municipal areas.
In this context, we can only fathom how deep political gratification runs into the system vis-Ã -vis the actual development that is often spoken about. If BJP was trying to push its left-out core workers, it was again to contain resentment within the party. And if the Congress-turned-BJP MLAs have brought it their men, it’s with a similar purpose. In either case, political appointees become proxies backing their master’s agenda.
This trend needs to change if the government is serious about its development pitch. People of the land should be part of the planning and development process. There cannot be compromises on planning because of political compulsions.
