Scrap the ‘reward component’ from the Traffic Sentinel Scheme - By Nisser Dias

More than a year after the ‘Traffic sentinel scheme’ was introduced by the Goa police department, vehicle owners have started feeling the heat as a result of which motorists along with elective representatives have began targeting the sentinels.

It started in Ponda when the members of the public used force and threat to close down a business. In Borda a sentinel was caught, abused and his mobile snatched by public, interestingly one traffic sentinel was part of this mob. In Vasco another was caught, beaten, his car damaged and turned on its side.

Margao Municipal Councillors along with former Congress chief minister Digambar Kamat held a protest rally. Congress Mahila president has condemned and demanded withdrawal of the scheme.

The anger towards the sentinels is because the general public along with lawmakers want the lawlessness, indiscipline and rowdiness to continue on the road. While the role of the sentinels is being questioned, nobody is ready to condemn the traffic violations.

Undoubtedly there are pros and cons of the scheme. From the very introduction of the scheme, it should have been promoted as a ‘social service’ to curb traffic violations.

Director General of Police Muktesh Chander the architect of scheme did not apply his mind. He completely lacked the foresight. He envisaged downslide in traffic violations and generation of revenue. He developed a win-win game for the government and sentinels without taking greed factor into consideration. And the result is while the government coffers are being filled, the traffic have gotten greedy.

Lakhs of motorists have been issued fines for various traffic violations since the scheme was introduced, the government has also earned crores of rupees in revenue but the success story is yet to be written.

The final judgment is still out there to analyse the success of the scheme and that verdict is whether motorists in Goa have imbibed the need for discipline driving, obeying traffic rules, value for one’s life and that of the other and more importantly whether the motorists have understood that licence to drive is a privilege and not a right.

A casual observation - be it in cities or on village roads – motorists have discarded the ethics of driving to the dustbin. Speaking on the mobiles while driving is rampant everywhere, driving against the  flow of traffic or through no entry zones, multiple driving on two wheelers is widespread, speeding, jumping lanes while driving on the highways, driving without wearing helmet and seatbelts is all abusively prevalent.

The transport department, the licensing authority (RTO) and the traffic cell have all utterly failed in its duties to inculcate fear of law in the motorists.

Director General of Police Muktesh Chandar in November 2017 showing concern for increasing motor accidental deaths hit upon this idea of ‘traffic sentinel scheme’ through society policing – one could also interpret it as soft vigilantism.

For a year the cash registers have been ringing incessantly. As per police statistics the traffic cell handed out lakhs of rupees, cars and bikes to the traffic sentinel. Rs. 25 lakhs earned from this scheme was paid to Goa Electronics Ltd. (GEL) to develop a Traffic sentinel APP.

The success of scheme is good news but on the flip side - sentinels saw opportunity for full time employment, some other saw prospects of enhancing their income while the police department was busy filling the otherwise empty government coffers.

That was the failure of the scheme. The ingredient of social service was lost in the bargain as the focus remained on generating revenue by enrolling every tom, dick and harry as a traffic sentinel. More than five thousand have enrolled as traffic sentinels. One can image how much of revenue is being raked in.

Infact police data indicate that they have received as many as 600 traffic violations in a day from a single sentinel. The data also indicate that the police have paid as much as Rs. 8 lakhs for a single sentinel.

These figures were sufficient enough for police to realize that something was going wrong with sentinels but they did not pay heed to it as they were raking in huge ‘moolah’ and the violations were not showing any signs of decline.

Instead the violators found the solace they wanted in the politicians who are ready to sell their soul to keep their flock intact to win yet another elections. Councillors started making noises and carried out public protests, Congress politicians extended their support to violators, even a lady who is trying hard to get a Congress parliamentary tickets has denounced the scheme and demanded its withdrawal citing security reason for women.

But this is all talk and demands in the air as none of the politicians have demanded that the reward part of the scheme be done away with. The moment the reward component is withdrawn and the scheme is made totally ‘social service’ 90 percent of the sentinels whose main motto is reward money will rapidly withdraw from the scheme and only those genuine sentinels who want to see a decline in motor vehicle accidents, want discipline driving will stick with the scheme.

The next step should in the interest of sentinels who stick to scheme purely on social service basis. They should be armed with identity cards issued by the government. The government has also to put mechanism in place for the safety of the sentinels in line with that of the government servant.

Domestic tourists continue to drink, cook, litter in the open, while Goa govt is in slumber. -- By Nisser Dias

In 2017 the nuisance of domestic tourists cooking by the roadside and in open spaces had been raised in the Legislative Assembly after media had highlighted the issue.

A visit to Colva beach on January 1, 2019 revealed that Indian tourists cooking, eating, drinking and littering the area in the children park, which is right behind the tourist police booth and opposite the Colva residency.

Though Chief minister Manohar Parrikar had assured the house that cooking in open spaces and by the roadside would not be allowed and the government  announced that it would form special squads to check on tourists who cook on the roadside and eat there itself, littering the place. A further announcement was made of setting up camping sites for tourists with facilities for cooking and for ablutions during their trip in the State.

More than an year has passed but nothing concrete has happened to fulfil the assurance in the assembly.

When tourism director Menino D’souza was asked about it his reply was stunning as he said, “lots of things are pending and I’m on leave, I’ve have seen it myself and it is a big nuisance but it has to be tackled very sensitively because of other states.”

As usual the domestic tourists have swooped down to Goa to ring in the New Year in buses, tempo travellers and jeeps packed with the utensils, gas cylinders, kerosene stoves and provisions.

After bringing in the new year they have set up their kitchens in the open space and were seen cooking, eating, drinking and discarding the waste right there or the Colva creek without any  inhibitions and fear of the tourist police.

When tourist police on duty was questioned about it, he said, “the top police brass in south Goa have instructed us not to disturb them and the domestic tourists were drinking outside our booth, against the direction of the DGP to penalize such tourists from buying liquor at wholesale outlets and drinking on the beach.”

When pointing out that the tourists were cooking, this cop swung into action and went around to stop cooking but the tourists but the group of tourists only nodded their heads and went about their business.

When the tourists were engaged into conversions, they were really upfront and said they have driven from neighbouring states just for two days, the  cost of lodging and provisions is expensive in Goa, liquor is cheap, so we enjoy and go back, we have been doing this for years.

There were other domestic in groups merrily consuming alcohol in the park, while some were still in sleeping it off. And the tourist police were turning Nelson’s eye to it.