MARGAO
It doesn't seem so. Otherwise, consider this. Tickets for the U-17 World Cup are sold at the SAG ground, Fatorda on grounds that Goemkars prefer buying tickets across the counter. Instances are galore when ardent soccer fans underwent sleepless nights outside the stadium to lay their hands on the tickets at the counter instead of booking on-line for the ISL competition.
That ordinary Goemkar still prefers to get their grievances redressed by personally calling on the Ministers is evident by the number of citizens waiting for the Ministers and bureaucrats in the Collectorates.
When this question was posed to Revenue & IT Minister Rohan Khaunte and TCP Vijai Sardesai to shed light on the tendency of Goans to rely on paper work instead of on-line system, Khaunte was frank in admitting that there's still a long way to go before e-governance and on-line activity become popular with the common man.
"We are aware of the ground reality. That's the reason the village talathi, IT men and others equipped with scanners and bio-metric machines will visit every taluka and every constituency in the next three months to set up the digital lockers. We are forming IT digital literacy teams which will fan out across the talukas and constituencies to spread digital literacy", Khaunte said.
He added: "I would like to appeal to the media to assist the government in spreading these digital concepts to the people. Today, we have Collectors in the two districts, who have been working sincerely", he said.
TCP Vijai Sardesai, however, attributed the situation to the "sussegado" nature of Goemkars. "How much do we use the IT when it reduces human interference, reduces corruption, ensures better governance and good administration. When something new is offered, there's bound to be some resistance.
These concepts have not percolated down for want of awareness",
he said, while admitting that people still come in sizeable numbers to meet him personally at the district Collectorate during his weekly visits though there's an option before the public to get their grievances redressed online.
