Rs 500 CRORE QUESTION: Former Arpora-Nagoa sarpanch Roshan Redkar questions Tourism Minister Rohan Khaunte over the development works undertaken in Calangute constituency during the ‘Sarkar Tumchya Dari’ programme.
MAPUSA
A government programme meant to address public grievances turned into a test of accountability on Friday when former Arpora-Nagoa sarpanch Roshan Redkar demanded an account of the Rs 500 crore allegedly allocated for development works in the Calangute constituency over the past five years.
Redkar confronted Tourism Minister Rohan Khaunte and Calangute MLA Michael Lobo during the ‘Sarkar Tumchya Dari’ programme, asking what development works had actually been undertaken against the amount cited in connection with Chief Minister Pramod Sawant’s announcement that every MLA had been provided Rs 100 crore annually for constituency development.
“If every MLA has been given Rs 100 crore every year, what development works have been carried out in Calangute over the past five years using Rs 500 crore? The government must provide a detailed list of these works,” Redkar demanded.
The question put the spotlight on the gap between announcements of substantial development funding and the need to publicly account for how the money has been spent.
Neither Khaunte nor Lobo could provide an immediate, specific account of the works undertaken against the amount cited.
Khaunte said the details were not available at the programme and would have to be furnished later.
Redkar, however, pressed for a clear accounting of the expenditure, insisting that the relevant information be made available rather than leaving the question unanswered.
The minister subsequently assured him that details would be compiled from the departments concerned and a list of development works undertaken in the constituency provided later.
The exchange raised an important question for a public grievance programme: if development expenditure is being discussed in terms of hundreds of crores, should residents have to wait for a subsequent compilation to find out which works were undertaken, how much was spent and where the money went?
The Rs 500 crore figure now requires clarification, including the precise allocation involved, the funds actually released and spent, and the projects completed or still pending.
The Chief Minister’s reported announcement of Rs 100 crore annually for every MLA does not, by itself, establish that the entire amount was sanctioned, released or spent in Calangute.
The programme was attended by Khaunte, Lobo, Calangute and Candolim sarpanchas Joseph Sequeira and Blaize Fernandes respectively, the deputy collector, the mamlatdar and officials from various government departments.
It was organised to hear public grievances and review development-related issues in the constituency.
Redkar, once an ally of Lobo, has since drifted away from the MLA.
His intervention brought a demand for financial transparency into a programme that could otherwise have remained focused on the routine presentation of government initiatives and assurances.
With the minister promising to provide the details later, the immediate question remains unanswered: what projects account for the Rs 500 crore cited and can the government substantiate the figure with department-wise expenditure records?
Tourism Minister holds Calangute PI
accountable for recurring tout menace
MAPUSA: Tourism Minister Rohan Khaunte on Thursday held the Calangute Police Inspector accountable for the recurring menace of touts in the beach village and said he would take up the issue with Chief Minister Pramod Sawant.
Khaunte said restoring Calangute’s former glory required an end to touting, dance bars and prostitution, stressing that the police must take decisive action against such activities.
“When the CM, Tourism Minister and Calangute MLA are all on the same page against touts, why does this problem keep recurring? Such issues should end. The police are responsible for taking action, and if they fail to do so, the Police Inspector will be held accountable,” Khaunte said. He reiterated that the Calangute PI was responsible for checking the menace and would have to answer for its continued recurrence.
