the goan I network
PANAJI
In a novel move which could possibly earn him his own identity in politics and governance, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant on Monday announced his plans to take on board the common citizenry to help him write the Budget of the State.
On February 6, Sawant is slated to present the State budget, technically his second but the first he can justifiably call his own. Last year, Sawant presented again in June a budget a skeletal outline of which had already been presented earlier in February by his predecessor the late Manohar Parrikar.
On Monday, at a specially called press conference, Sawant announced the launching of a special page on the official government web portal www.goaonline.gov.in by logging on to which Goa’s citizens can post their own suggestions and ideas to be incorporated in the budget 2020-21.
Citizens interested in letting Sawant know their ideas, both for revenue generation as well as government spending for sustainable development goals and also welfare. The suggestions are required to be posted latest by January 31.
Goa has a lot of talent specially among the youth. Their ideas and suggestions will help the government prepare
a better budget focusing on sectors that matter to the people,” Sawant said, addressing journalists in his chamber at the Goa legislative assembly complex.
Citizens can also attach supporting documents to their suggestions and ideas, in Jpeg/Png/Doc/Pdf format but the file should not exceed more than 5MB in size.
Sawant took over the State’s chief ministership after the death of Parrikar in mid-March last year. In the ten months since then, the greenhorn administrator has been struggling to shake off the overbearing shadow of his predecessor’s influence on the administration and politics.
It’s not unusual and past Chief Ministers have indeed held consultations for budget preparation but those have been restricted to industry collectives and pressure groups from various sectors of industry and commerce like the Goa Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI), Pharma association, Tourism and Travel Association of Goa (TTAG) among others.
But Sawant’s move to launch a window in the official government website to enable common folks to contribute in the budget preparation exercise could potentially be a game-changer and is seen as an attempt by him to append his own identity to the State government and the administration.
