the goan I network
MARGAO
Conceding that administration has been hit due to the absence of Ministers on health grounds, Goa Forward party chief and TCP Minister Vijai Sardesai on Friday made it clear that the situation cannot be allowed to continue any further, saying a solution will be worked out after the return of the Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar to the state mid-September.
“I have said that administration is hit, not only because of the absence of the Chief Minister, Manohar Parrikar, but also due to absence of other ministers as there is nobody at the helm to take decisions”, Sardesai told media on Friday.
When the media drew his attention to the arrangement at the Centre when Finance Minister Arun Jaitley was granted three months leave by the Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, the TCP Minister said he would convey the message to Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar after his return.
“I agree that administration has been affected and the situation just cannot simply continue. A solution will
be worked out after the Chief Minister’s return. We will tackle the issue with the Chief Minister at the Coordination Committee meeting of the alliance partners, which was constituted to run the government based on a Common Minimum programme and an agenda for development”, he said.
“It is true that the Chief Minister is ill and it is also a fact that other ministers holding major portfolios are also down with illness. This cannot continue like this. The BJP President Vinay Tendulkar has said the Chief Minister is expected to return around September 9. We will work out a solution after the Chief Minster’s return”, he said.
Admitting that the health issues are a cause for concern, Sardesai, however, said it has happened not out of choice, but hastened to add that the coalition partners will work out a solution.
He replied in the negative when asked whether the state will return to the days of the three-member core committee, saying one of the members of the committee is down will illness.
Asked to comment on the health status of the Power Minister, Pandurang Madkaikar, whose absence has affected the functioning of the power department, the TCP Minister said it is true that the Power Minister is ailing for some time now, adding that the Chief Minister is taking care of his department.
“I have been told that Madkaikar is recuperating. I have seen his photographs taking a walk in the garden of the Mumbai-based hospital after undergoing treatment for stroke. When he will resume his duties, I do not know. I am not in the loop of his medical status”, he said.
