CHALLENGES AHEAD
1)MINING IMBROGLIO
The Chief Minister will have to ensure that the government’s decision making is faster. Over the three months that he was away, the government is yet to arrive at a solution or even a way forward on the issue
2)
PORTFOLIO CRISIS
There is an increasing clamour to divest ailing Pandurang Madkaikar of the crucial portfolio not only because of his ailing health but because of the frequent power cuts especially over the summer months
3)
RECRUITMENT ISSUE
With all the files regarding government recruitment kept pending and awaiting the Chief Minister’s arrival, several hopefuls have been made to wait only being told that the matter will be decided after return of Parrikar
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PANAJI: Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar returns to a state very different from the one he left behind in late February.
And, while the Chief Minister has regularly monitored the situation from the United States regularly talking via telephone, he arrives in a state that politically has a rejuvenated Congress and a section of the population increasingly impatient with the government over the restart of mining.
When Parrikar left the state, the March 5 the deadline for shutting mining activity was still ten days away. Prior to taking ill, Parrikar had claimed that the ore that had already been mined would be transported allowing for mining dependents to be engaged in the activity.
“We will see that no one will be unemployed. I cannot guarantee that the same mine owner will employ them, but we will see that people stay engaged. We will work to ensure that people's jobs and businesses are not impacted,” Parrikar assured while speaking on February 14.
“Support does not mean dole. I did not mean dole. I said that the work will be ensured. Disruption, if it happens, will be for a month or two. You will get the details in the assembly session,” Parrikar said.
However, later that evening Parrikar was admitted to Goa Medical College and Hospital in what was initially believed to be a case of food poisoning.
Fast forward to today, and the High Court has stopped all transportation activity except that which was already on the jetties as allowed by the Supreme Court. With a large number of people unemployed and on an indefinite fast, Parrikar has a huge issue on his hands.
The Chief Minister will have to ensure that the government’s decision making is faster. Over the three months that he was away, the government is yet to arrive at a solution or even a way forward on the issue.
Also before the Chief Minister is the issue of government recruitment as well as the larger issue of unemployment. With all the files regarding government recruitment kept pending and awaiting the Chief Minister’s arrival, several hopefuls have been made to wait only being told that the matter will be decided after the return of the Chief Minister.
The chief minister is also facing a crisis of sorts within the government with an increasing clamour to divest the ailing Pandurang Madkaikar of the crucial portfolio not only because of his ailing health but because of the frequent power cuts that the state has had to deal with especially over the summer months. It may be recalled that the chief minister called the power minister to instruct him to ensure that the 22-hour-long power cut in Panaji would not repeat.
Prior to Parrikar's departure Shantaram Naik was the president of the principal opposition party and was rather mellow in his criticism of the government. Fast forward to today and Naik is no more while the Congress is headed by Girish Chodankar who is eager to ensure that the party does not shy away from taking to the streets.
Several other pending issues are before the chief minister including a pending resolution to the taxi problem, which he had given several assurances and deadlines to resolve and also that of the law and order problem.
