The Rs 300-crore financial package announced in the Union Budget for the celebration of Goa's 60th year of Liberation comes as a welcome surprise. And Chief Minister Pramod Sawant's spontaneous gesture that the funds will be utilised for infrastructure, human development and upliftment of marginalized and those hit by Covid would soothe many ruffled minds. However, as economic experts begin to process what is dished out in the Budget and collate it with the past, many questions surface.
It was over a decade back during the tenure of Digambar Kamat as the chief minister the Centre had sanctioned Rs 200 crore towards the Golden Jubilee Fund to celebrate Goa's 50 years of Liberation. The State government then made proportionate allocations to the CCP, municipalities and village panchayats across the State to carry out developmental projects. Till now not a word has been spoken about how the money is spent, with many municipalities like Cuncolim failing to utilize the funds. Where has the Rs 200 crore gone? If there is no account of this spending, how do common citizens believe that the Rs 300 crore will be channelized constructively?
Moreover, it was with great enthusiasm that the State government then formed the Goa Golden Jubilee Development Council under the chairmanship of Dr Raghunath Mashelkar which also included prominent names like Dr Anil Kakodkar, Dr Raj Paroda, Architect Charles Correa, Dr P S Ramani, Madhav Gadgil and others. A report titled Goa Vision document 2035 was submitted. Why have successive governments not spoken about this document?
The Rs 300 crore grant to Goa itself comes as a surprise because the State had put a proposal for Rs 100 crore. The Centre's generosity appears suspect. Surprisingly, nowhere in the Budget document does the Rs 300 crore find an entry. The solitary mention of the grant is heard in the opening remarks of the Finance Minister's speech.
In an interesting corollary, which could be an amusing coincidence and food for thought, both the Liberation celebration packages -- the Golden Jubilee and the one given now, have come just ahead of an election year.
We don't doubt Centre's soft corner for Goa, after all, there are parties of the same feather in power. But what is intriguing is the Centre has showered in abundance on a celebration when they chose to ignore Goa's pleas for funds all along, including demands of special status, financial package to mining-affected and even assistance for Covid relief. There has been no help forthcoming as the State continues to reel under a fiscal crisis with heavy borrowing. And here now, the Centre is doling out Rs 300 crore telling the State to celebrate Liberation, that too when Goa is undergoing a churn, and in no mood to celebrate. There is something to read between the lines here.
While the Goa government accepts the financial windfall with open arms, it will have to stand up to the scrutiny of the past and chart out details on how it plans to spend the Rs 300 crore. Goans cannot bank on mere headline-making announcements.
