Govt departments & agencies must work in tandem to ensure citizens’ interests
Last Sunday, the Public Works Department (PWD) issued a statement deferring the closure of the new Mandovi bridge for repairs. This came as a relief to SSC students and their parents. As per the earlier announcement, the bridge was to remain closed from March 2 to March 10 for some maintenance work. The reason given by the PWD for postponing closure was the SSC examination.
In late January, the PWD had announced that work on the old Mandovi bridge would begin on February 8, but the work started a week later.
In the Porvorim temple demolition controversy, it was only when the government and BJP leaders came under severe criticism for trying to demolish the Dev Khapreshwar temple at Vadakodem last Sunday that the government announced that the temple “would be reconstructed by the government at the new site of the transplanted banyan tree”.
The handling of the issue by the government has evoked many questions: how could the government shift an idol that is worshipped as ‘ximecho rakhandor’ (the village protector) to some other place? Is the site where the banyan tree has been transplanted an appropriate location for transplanting a tree, as until a couple of years ago, being a paddy field, it was prone to waterlogging during heavy rain?
What do the cases cited above tell us? There may be many answers, but one point stands out – the failure of administrative machinery.
Regarding the Mandovi bridge work, didn’t the PWD know that the SSC exams were to begin on March 1? So how could they decide to keep it closed from March 2? It is only when activists and parents make noise that departments wake up and change their work schedule.
It’s not only the PWD; as far as the administration is concerned, there seems to be a lack of coordination between various departments and government agencies. That’s the reason we had suggested that management of water supply be done by a separate department, and the Chief Minister, Pramod Sawant, was kind enough to agree and declare it.
In the Porvorim temple matter, the government could have managed the issue in a better way. According to devotees, if the government wanted to relocate the temple, it should have decided on a spot nearby well in advance and not done it in a hurry with a massive police force.
At times, intra-party politics can go beyond religious sentiments. The tree and the temple could have been saved if there was no factionalism in the ruling party, people in the know say. One group, through Union Minister of State Shripad Naik, had approached Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari seeking realignment of the flyover. Gadkari had asked NHAI engineers to look into the request, but it fizzled out; it is not known why. The temple issue also brought to the fore that a large section of devotees aligns with the political line of the day. They don’t get emotional. They stand firmly with the political party they are affiliated with or the political leader they are obliged to. They come on the streets if their leader or the party concerned is not in the ruling. Otherwise, huge crowds would have been mobilised as it happened in the Mapusa Housing Board temple issue in the 90s.
The point is that some administrative decisions are taken without proper thought. Proper coordination between departments and other government agencies is needed so that the common man
doesn’t suffer.
