One question doing the rounds in some skeptical circles is why did The Goan on Saturday, raise an old issue of the SEZ scam, which is more than two years old.
Enough heat wasgenerated in the assembly on Wednesday when the normally unflappable and highlyrespected leader of the opposition Mr Pratapsingh Raoji Rane, literally saw redat TheGoan for having reported Babu Kavlekar’s conversation with the paper,saying he was a mere rubber stamp GIDC chairman, remote controlled by juniorand senior Rane.
Mr Rane’scharges have been responded to by your newspaper, in a manner responsible and withcalm-qualities that go with both men and publications when facts are yourfriends, on page 3 of this edition. But the other matter of raking up “oldstories” needs to be addressed.
Why does aresponsible newspaper report stories of government inefficiency and corruption?It does, not just to enhance sales and readership, but because it believes thatit’s an instrument of change. And “change” is complete when the act orinstrument of corruption is acted against and punished. And till that happens,the story is relevant. Each story is a brick on the road to that change. AndTHAT, readers, will not change. At least not with The Goan.
The biggesttake away from the assembly proceedings was not Mr Rane’s attack on TheGoan, but the Chief Minister’s decision to hand over theinvestigation into the GIDC’s scam of plot allotments for proposed SEZs to the anti-corruption bureauof the police, which will lodge FIRs on specific cases. Your newspaper welcomesit and offers to participate in those investigations on behalf of the people ofGoa. In the pursuit of truth we will share information which will help getcloser to it, because we see ourselves as not just observers of eventsunfolding around us but as change agents.
Nothingshould divert our attention from recovering the Rs 100 crores plus that waslost to the state because of the way plot allotment was manipulated and leasedout at throwaway rates at a huge loss. It was our money that was lost so whyshould your newspaper not make a noise? Can we say the story is over when thestory is actually just beginning? In February 2006 lease rates for land in threephases in Verna were increased from Rs 600 to Rs 750. But it was not raised forphase IV where the SEZ allotments took place. Then additional lands wereallotted to companies which were not charged and then charged a token amount ofRs 100 per square meter. The CAG has monetised these and other violations at Rs102.64 crores.
An FIR filedagainst Babu Kavlekar in 2007 and others for fraudulent allotment of lands tocompanies has still not been registered though the complainants have relentlesslypursued it. If the states redressal mechanism refuses to redress it because thescanner is on the law makers, a newspaper worth its salt needs to fill thatspace. Unflappable politicians can go red in the face and use unparliamentarylanguage at journalists who get under their collar, but we have a job to do,which goes beyond Babu Kavlekar and Pratapsingh Rane. And if lawmakers andgovernments can’t use the powers given to them by the people of Goa to tacklecorruption, then a newspaper will fulfill its responsibility to the people tounearth truths.
And we, as anewspaper, will do it responsibly with all facts and evidences so that loseallegations and outbursts for whatever reason can be replied to by calm facts.After all, we will not enter a battlefield where opponents will use every trickin the book to suppress facts starting with denials, without ammunition. The bestand only ammunition we need and have are facts.
Thesebattles against corruption will be in every issue across issues. Our disclosureof the Pendse commission report on the fake ticket scam orchestrated by formerchairman of the Goa Cricket Academy Dayanand Narvekar was the beginning of ourpursuit in cleaning up Goa’s cricket corruption.
Hence to putthis simply, we are just starting and we won’t stop till we follow every storyto its logical conclusion. Because truth is not a privilege only in the “House”of 40, but more so, in the house of the people outside. And we will fight forthat privilege.
