PANAJI
Newly appointed Sports Minister Govind Gaude on Wednesday slammed glaring lacunae in government maintenance procedures, singling out the Chief Minister-headed Goa State Infrastructure Development Corporation (GSIDC), institutions built which, Gaude said, were in a serious state of neglect and disrepair.
"There are many institutions where the government has spent more than Rs 60 crore per Ravindra Bhavan or Rajiv Gandhi Kala mandir kind of institutions. But there is no proper maintenance. Why is there no proper maintenance? Why?" Gaude told reporters soon after taking charge as minister on Wednesday.
"First and foremost we have to start a maintenance cell where we have to recruit people. What is happening, GSIDC is constructing all these projects. Once they handover. Nobody knows what is, where is, and when one has to do the maintenance. Nobody knows. The plans are lying with the GSIDC. The other work is there with Art and Culture. This should not be there," Gaude also said.
The Minister said that his suggestions on how to tide over the maintenance issue, were ignored by the last government in which he was also a Minister.
"The person who is recruited at the initial stage, during the construction, he should be permanently posted in that institution because he should know what are the facts and what are the important things. What is the problem? the plumbing, the refrigeration, AC, electricians. These are the people who should know the periphery of the institution and then only it is possible for us to maintain the institution," Gaude said.
The Minister, who holds the Art and Culture and Sports and Youth Affairs portfolio, also said that maintaining large government projects was as logical as maintaining a house.
"It is just like a house. Every person in the state of Goa is living in a house. They know how to maintain the house. It is the same thing we have to maintain these institutions, because if we do the maintenance at the proper time, then it is possible for us to maintain the entire institution or the building at low cost. That is going to be my focus for Art and Culture projects and Sports Department," he said.
Gaude also said that the Dr Shyama Prasad Mukherjee stadium near Panaji would be reclaimed for major sports activities within six months.
