RE-BUILT: Will the Shantadurga temple at Fatorpa, which was shifted out of Cuncolim because of fears at that time that the Portuguese would demolish, be rebuilt at its original home in Cuncolim.

The highlight of budget 2022-2023 presented by Chief Minister Pramod Sawant on March 30, 2022 is allotment of funds for rebuilding temples allegedly destroyed by the Portuguese colonial era. As a sop to the minority community a token figure has been allotted to improve the infrastructure of churches and other places of worship. We fear that all this may well lead to the destruction of existing churches including the Bom Jesus Basilica which is reportedly built on an existing Hindu temple.

By Financial Correspondent

IN keeping with the Union budget which focussed on the infrastructure and the expenditure side, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant has also announced generous funds for the tourism industry. Provisions for the Tourism Department have increased to Rs247 crore. Of this Rs48.66 crore will be for beach safety management. No doubt Drishti or some other agency will make a killing on the beach safety contract.
The CM has offered a carrot to the Christian minority community. A provision of Rs51.74 crore has been made for development infrastructure and other religious monuments in the Goa. Since the Centre wants to make Goa the tourism capital of the country, Rs80 crore has been gifted to the Goa Tourism Development Corporation. A nominal amount of Rs5 crore has been made for parking of chartered flights at Dabolim airport.
But the State government clearly gives more importance to the new Mopa airport scheduled to be commissioned in August 2022. Though Pramod Sawant has talked off strengthening, widening and re-carpeting the existing approach road to Mopa airport, he is silent about allocation of funds. Perhaps he will try to get Central funds for the development of Mopa Airport.
To ensure that the State is not caught unprepared for future pandemics like Covid-19, which exposed the state’s frayed medical infrastructure, the CM has proposed two integrated public health laboratories. These will reduce Goa’s dependence on the Virological Institute in Pune and the delays in getting results of the omicron covid-19 tests. The CM has made provision for two critical care blocks of 50 beds each at the GMC and the South Goa District Hospital. This is because if there is a fourth wave of covid variants which primarily target the respiratory system and lungs, adequate critical care beds will be required.
LOSING SANITY
PERHAPS keeping in mind the fact that more and more people are losing their sanity because of the policies of the State government, 100 new beds have been added to Institute of Psychiatric & Human Behaviour (IPHP). Irrespective of the infrastructure created by the State the Centre has decided to set up a full-fledged Employee State Insurance (ESI) hospital in North Goa. South Goa already has an ESI hospital.
The CM in his first budget speech has assured that the mining industry will re-start to its full capacity. In fact, Pramod Sawant even expects the mining industry to contribute Rs650 crore revenue to the public ex-chequer. The only catch here is there is no sign of the revival of the mining industry. The Supreme Court has made it clear that the only option before the State government is to auction the mines. Even the proposal of the State government to permit the mining of the dumps, which are rejects, has not been permitted by the Supreme Court. There is no mention in the budget of the State about starting a mining corporation in the public sector. So far, from getting a revenue of Rs650 crore the state will have to spend more to compensate mining dependents.
Goa has no choice but to join the digital world courtesy Covid-19 protocol. Though the third wave of Covid seems to have died down, there is every risk of a fourth wave overtaking us. There cannot be a digital revolution in the State without an information technology infrastructure. Sawant has allotted Rs143 crore for the IT sector.
The government has also committed itself to wired internet connectivity to all the schools to promote e-learning. This effectively means that the roads will have to be dug up again to lay cables for internet connectivity. The State also proposes to set up an electronic manufacturing cluster at Tuem to generate employment for 2,000 Goans over a period of five years. Not very reassuring as this works out to only an additional 400 jobs a year. This is in sharp contrast to the established IT giants like TCS and WIPRO which recruit 50,000 to a lakh new-employees annually.

POUNDS OF FLESH
FORMER Power Minister Nilesh Cabral who is expected to be retained by the Pramod Sawant government has got his pound of flesh. It is proposed to set up a 33 Kv sub-station at Tuem for the benefit of the electronic cluster. It is also proposed to upgrade overhead conductors to high current capacity and enable them to take the load off the two major stations at Tuem and Mandrem. It is also proposed to expand the areas underground cabling. The frequent power failures in Goa are primarily because of overhead power lines. Overhead power lines snap every time a crow sits on them. Part of the problem has been the poor quality of the conductors which are a source of major kickbacks with the power minister.
At long last the State government is taking education seriously. Among the biggest budget allocation is the education sector which gets a massive Rs3,850 crore. Most of this money will go towards setting up and upgrading science labs in 350 schools, vocational labs in 71 schools and 20 new Atal tinkering labs. The Atal labs have been set up by the Centre for imparting digital and other skills to unemployed youth. The State also proposes the upgradation of computer labs in schools. Goa has finally realised that it is the school which needs computer labs and that the populist gesture of distributing laptops to school and higher secondary students does not serve any purpose.
The State government has even woken up to the fact that most of our schools do not have playgrounds. It has proposed to upgrade sports facilities in 350 schools. Tightening its hold on the unregulated pre-primary schools it has been decided that all the KG schools will have to register with the Education Department. Special guidance and training programs will be organised for Goan youth to answer competitive exams like the IAS, IIT, NEET, etc.

SAFFRONISATION AGENDA
THE State proposes to facilitate global law universities and arbitration centres. This might persuade the many Goan retired judges like former Chief Justice Ferdinho Rebello to return to Goa. There is a brain Drain in the legal fraternity as little or no stress has been put on arbitration in Goa. The CM is clearly under pressure from the RSS to help contribute to the saffronisation of Goa.
Pramod Sawant has revealed that the school curriculum would be required to focus on not only the history, culture and traditions of Goa but also yoga. It is not clear whether the curriculum will focus only on contributions by the RSS and BJP leaders or will include Goan intellectual giants like Menezes Braganza and TB Cunha.
The NIT Goa which has been an orphan without a home of its own is expected to function from its new campus from May 2022. So far, it has been functioning at Farmagudi with the facilities of the GEC.
The taxi mafia controls the State. Irrespective of which government is in power, the taxi mafia will continue to obstruct any proposal for a mass public transport system in Goa. Surely, if both the Centre and the State want to make Goa the tourism capital of India, there should be a mass transport system like a metro or at least an extension of the Konkan Railway to all major tourism points? The allocations for the transport sector of about Rs60 crore is primarily intended for the purchase of 100 additional air-conditioned electric busses for which 37 crore have already been allotted.
All the taxi owners who have been good boys and installed digital meters are expected to be reimbursed. The BJP government, whether at the Centre or at the State, have a passion for private public participation, so not surprisingly the budget has proposed modern bus stands on a PPP basis in Panaji and Margao.
The CM who is also the Finance Minister seems to have sacrificed Goa’s interests in respect to the Mhadei river waters. In fact, in the recent past, the BJP-ruled government in Karnataka has even built dams across the Mhadei river to divert water to the Malaprabha basin. It was the late Manohar Parrikar who very generously agreed to permit Karnataka to divert the Mhadei waters to Dharwad and Hubli for “drinking purposes.” The actual quantity diverted by Karnataka is 10 times the amount committed by Parrikar.

38 EARLY WARNING TOWERS
THE State will have to rely on the Tillari project which is a joint venture between Goa and Maharashtra to supply water to farmers. Ironically, the State has proposed flood mitigation projects on Mhadei, Chapora, Mapusa and Kandepar rivers. Never mind, the flood mitigation won’t be needed as with Mhadei river waters being diverted it won’t be long before the continuity in Mandovi river will be affected. In an obviously moneymaking racket, the State proposes to set up 38 early warning towers along the coastal line for the benefit of fisherman to warn them of impending disasters such as cyclones and tsunamis. The only tsunami that Goa has witnessed is the Covid tsunami.
The biggest beneficiary is the PWD that has been allotted JICA (joint venture between Japan and India) projects to the extent of Rs1,404 crore. The JICA projects already underway are expected to be completed by June 2022. We do not know what the CM’s intentions are in setting aside one day each week to solve water bill issues. Surely in the digital era the State does not devote just one day but the entire week tackling billing issues.
The CM could emulate the example of Nilesh Cabral who has facilitated online payment of electricity bills. The only relief on the Water Supply Department is the proposal to set up five more water treatment plants to provide 83 MLD (million litres per day). Coming to the controversial River Navigation & Ports Department the CM is silent of the threat by the Centre to nationalise all the rivers in Goa.
Sawant has remained silent on the conversion of the Mormugao Port Trust into a public sector company which will now be called Mormugao Port Association. Since MPT is no longer a trust the shots will be called by the Central government. Considering that the Central government is very friendly with industrialist Gautam Adani, the MPT will increase the number of berths for the import of Adani coal from Australia. The new MPA has even started claiming various beach front areas and St Jacinto island as part of its real estate.
Obviously for the benefit of the casino lobby the State proposes to build a state-of-the-art terminal building for the Captain of Ports. It has also been proposed to upgrade and beautify the ferry ramps. The government expects to launch the solar hybrid electric green boat for inland water transport. The cost has not been indicated.
Even though Goa has missed its date with the National Games which were to be held before the Covid-19 pandemic, there is a proposal to strengthen sports infrastructure. The allotment for sports infrastructure is Rs50 crore which will probably be used to build another indoor facility in South Goa. The Sports Department has been allotted Rs70 crore for strengthening the Sports Authority of Goa.
In contrast the provision for financial assistance to indigenous Goan sports persons is only Rs80 lakh. Since anything that Narendra Modi speaks is supposed to be gospel truth for the heads of BJP-ruled states, it is proposed to set up two Khelo India district centres at the Peddem Sports Complex and the Fatorda Stadium for hockey and football, respectively. Never mind that nobody plays hockey any longer in Goa and the era of Goa producing hockey champions is a pipe dream.

GOVERNMENT SERVANTS
AS a gesture to government servants who make up a sizeable vote bank there is a proposal to introduce an insurance scheme for them. There is also the introduction of a voluntary retirement scheme so that younger unemployed on the government unemployment registry may get a chance to fill up fresh vacancies.
SIGNIFICANTLY, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant who also holds the finance portfolio started his speech quoting a song from the Marathi film “Double Seat” which goes, “Man suddha tuza goshtaaahe prithvimolachi…” (translating roughly to “If your mind is clean and innocent, who are you really afraid of? Walk on, don’t be afraid, fear nothing…”). The present chief minister of Goa seems to have forgotten that Konkani is the official language of the State of Goa.
He has presented a Rs434 crore revenue surplus budget. We do not know from where the surplus will come considering Goa’s debt has exceeded Rs40,000 crore. Swayumpurana might sound nice as a slogan but raising resources and blocking leakages and corruption is a different kind of challenge altogether!