Water from toilets above leak and falls on files below
As a common man- aspecies which is getting rapidly extinct, don’t you wish that you were aninspector with a licence to get into government departments to check if thegovernment you help run with your taxes is doing its job? In many countriescitizens are given preferred treatment in government offices because, as oneofficer once famously said “the citizen pays my salary”. The Goan is becomingthe voice of Goa that is heard and promises to be an inspector on behalf of thecommon man. Inspector Goan willenter government departments incognito and report on its functioning andwhether, at the end of day, it is serving the common man. We will also revisitdepartments to check if points raised by us are being redressed
If going to a government office is a nightmare than theZonal Agriculture Office at Margao is a hell-like experience for the aam admi.
The ZAO provides subsidy and support price to farmers andhorticulturists. It reimburses the difference between the rate at which theproduce is sold at and the actual market price.
But the wait is long and the payment takes ages to come. Theoffice is a dingy place and more often than not there is hardly anyone toattend to you.
Broken chairs and leaking roof greets you as you enter theoffice. Dry taps in the toilet and shabby and dirty entrance also adds to yourwoes.
The office is located in the Communidade building, which wasbuilt in 1862, in Margao.
During the monsoon the dilapidated building leaks. Manytimes ZAO employees end up swabbing the floor to drain out the water.
“The toilet is in a dilapidated manner and there is no watersupply. The water proofing is worn out and therefore the toilets from the topfloor leaks and falls on the files and all over the office. The electricitycables are worn out. In fact the whole office is in a pathetic state,” said ZAOpeon Irish Sheikh.
Nuvem-based Milagrina Pereira disclosed that mostly theoffice is empty. The investigators and administrative staff are never found attheir desks. When questioned most of them have ready excuse that they are onthe field. In the evening, the staff catches up on news by reading thenewspapers. But the news really is that this office does no work
“Now the government has started an online ECS system togenerate payments towards support price, subsidy or compensation. Earlier evena simple task of collecting a cheque would take at least five visits to the ZAOoffice,” said Laxman Chari, a Balli-based cashew nut cultivator.
According Leo Fernandes, a Fatorda-based farmer, ZAO is themost inefficient agriculture office in South Goa.
“The ZAO takes over four to six months to release paymentstowards subsidy or support price. When questioned the constant refrain is thatthe accounts department is yet to approve payments,” Fernandes said.
