Civil Servants Needed, Not Civil Serpents -- By Nisser Dias

In the realm of governance, there's a prevalent adage that speaks volumes: "Government servants serve those who pay their bribes but not who pay their salaries."

This adage recently echoed starkly in the Goa Bench of the Bombay High Court's reprimand of Goa's top bureaucrats, Chief Secretary Puneet Kumar Goel (IAS), and Director General of Police Jaspal Singh (IPS), regarding ongoing illegal sand mining. Despite filing affidavits promising to halt this activity, both officials received a scathing assessment from Justices Mahesh Sonak and Valmiki S A Menezes, who deemed these affidavits as mere paper assurances.

Such disregard for legally binding documents by top-ranking officers signifies a failure to uphold the law they're sworn to enforce. Their actions not only undermine the sanctity of their affidavits but also erode the public's trust in the administration they lead.

In my view, the High Court's leniency towards these officials seems a tad excessive, especially considering their complicity in allowing illegal sand mining—a mere glimpse into a larger web of illicit activities thriving under their watch. Despite court orders, including those from the Supreme Court, government authorities seem complacent, turning a blind eye to these issues.

It's distressing when the Chief Secretary and Director General of Police treat the High Court's directives as inconsequential, blatantly refusing to act on their sworn commitments. This behavior contradicts the expectation set by India's first Deputy Prime Minister, Vallabhai Patel, who envisioned IAS officers as individuals of integrity, boldness, and the willingness to confront elected representatives in power. Today, however, such assertiveness is deemed unacceptable by political leaders, as they often foster illegality, with bureaucrats turning into enablers rather than upholders of justice.

The positions of Chief Secretary and Director General of Police hold immense responsibility—they serve as the pillars of administrative functioning and law enforcement. Yet, the allure of personal gain through illegal acts, political favoritism, and post-retirement benefits has corroded the morals and ethics expected from these high-ranking officials.

One can only imagine the plight of the common citizen seeking justice or relief from these officers who casually disregard the directives of the High Court. It's evident that the taxpayer, the backbone of their hefty salaries, is inconsequential to them, warranting the perceived leniency from the court.

Furthermore, the dismissive attitude of these top-tier officers reflects the pervasive culture of corruption, apathy, and defiance trickling down to lower levels of the bureaucratic hierarchy. The Justices' assertion that the insolence of these officials is merely the "tip of the iceberg" resonates profoundly.

These arrogant officials operate under the misguided belief that their actions are beyond reproach. Thankfully, our judicial system stands as a beacon of accountability amid such challenges.

In conclusion, it's imperative for bureaucrats and government officers to recognize their role as civil servants of the people, not as self-serving entities or rather civil serpents.

Rehabilitate the slum dwellers in your properties, Mr. Chief minister. -- By Nisser Dias

Zuarinagar slums on Comunidade land

All along we all knew without a shadow of a doubt that the ministers in successive governments in Goa were out to fill their own pockets in the name of development. With honey in their mouth, they win the election and then sting us with their tail. After scavenging even, the innards of Goa for decades, the non-Goan chief minister of Goa Pramod Sawant and his partner in crime Panchayat minister Mauvin Godinho have now set their sights on Comunidade land.

Under the guise of regularization of illegal construction, these two cabinet vultures now want to forage the age-old institution set up by the erstwhile Portuguese. To appease the migrants for their votes for 2024 general elections, Mauvin Godinho wants their patronage and thus in a hurry to regularize lakhs of square meters of Goan Comunidade land for the ‘Bhumiputras’. And ‘Bhumiputra’ chief minister of Goa Sawant is only too happy to bring in non-Goans like himself and sell the state to achieve what the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP) could not.

That the ‘Ghatti’ chief minister of Goa is completely a turn-coat is very much evident because, in January this year Jan 18, 2023), while speaking in the Assembly on ‘Goa Regularization of Unauthorised Construction (Amendment) Bill had said that illegal houses in government and Comunidade land will be demolished. 10 months later the same man is talking about rectifying the Comunidade Code to regularize illegal houses. Nowhere in the Regularization of Unauthorised Construction (Amendment) Bill 2023 passed by the Assembly does Comunidade land features, simply because Comunidade is governed by its Code.

For the knowledge of the ‘bhumiputra’ chief minister of Goa, the Code of Comunidade was codified by the erstwhile Portuguese regime in 1904 and then in 1933. The final notified code legislative diploma 2070 was approved on April 15, 1961. This last code is in force and the current management and administration of Comunidades happen based on this code.

Bhumiputra CM of Goa

Comunidades are autonomous village level bodies envisaged by the Code of Comunidade in force and the government only provides administrative guidance at the expense of the Comunidades. Hence the government has no power to legalise illegal constructions existing on Comunidade land as the Comunidade bodies are the absolute owners of the land.

Rectification of Comunidade Code is not at all in the interest of Goa and Goans but only to give a backdoor entry to ‘ghattis’ illegally squatting on its land. In January 2021 too, the BJP government tried a similar tactic to regularize illegal squatters but had to withdraw it because of stiff opposition from Goans. Goans have also not forgotten that Pramod Sawant being a non-Goan tried to snatch his landlord’s land using Goa, Daman and Diu Mundkars (Protection from Eviction) Act, 1975, but finally withdrew his case.

The non-Goan chief minister of Goa failed in his attempts to grab land from the ‘bhatkar’, but now he wants to allow other non-Goans to be owners of lakhs and lakhs of sq. mts. of Comunidade land. Pramod Sawant is out to destroy Goa and make Goans alien in their land. Go home! Quit Goa! Pramod Sawant.

The chief minister talks about courts being burdened with civil cases for eviction and demolition prayers by Comunidade executive bodies and thinks that rectifying the Comunidade Code and regularizing illegal construction will solve the matter.

Justice A S Oka of Bombay High Court while rejecting the Maharashtra Government plea, seeking to implement a policy to regularise illegal structures across the state had observed that the proposed regularisation policy will lead to increased litigation by creating so many loopholes for people to argue. He further stated that when these structures undergo redevelopment, they will also be eligible for more construction rights.

In yet another case a division bench of Chief Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice Girish Kulkarni, expressed “grave doubts” over the policy of the state government “which rewards the encroachers of the public land by a free of cost accommodation.” “In our opinion, such policies qua the Government land not only violate the principles of equality but certainly falls foul of the doctrine of public trust,” the bench had observed. The same justices also stated, “At the outset, we may observe that the petitioners who have encroached cannot elevate their protection to such an extent that such slum dwellers have to be rehabilitated either on the same land or be provided a permanent alternate accommodation within the vicinity.”

But in Goa, Goans feel the solution of regularization of these illegal migrants is simple, the ‘Bhumiputra chief minister Pramod Sawant (nicknamed Property Sawant) and

Mauvin Godinho saviour of migrants

Panchayat minister Mauvin Godinho should rehabilitate all the migrants in the large tract of properties and lands they have bought in Goa under various benami names. Interestingly a day after the ambitious statement, Sawant must have felt the tremors under his feet and is now trying to get out of the sticky situation by claiming that constructions in slums will not be regularized but of Goans who have built illegally in Comunidade. This ‘ghatti’ CM of Goa thinks he can fool us but we can see through and through his intention, especially because he made the statement while addressing the migrants alongside with Mauvin Godinho - the saviour of the migrant squatters on Comunidade land.

Vishwajit Rane's Waning Credibility: A Lack of Trust Among Goans – By Nisser Dias

In the eyes of many Goans, Vishwajit Rane has long appeared to be a hollow figure. He fancies himself as astute, often attempting to navigate the realm of political manoeuvring, only to hit a wall when his hidden agendas are exposed.

Vishwajit further diminishes himself by repeatedly declaring unwavering support for the public, vowing never to go against their wishes. Unfortunately, these promises have become tiresome refrains, only echoing when his questionable intentions are laid bare by the people.

In 2019, he made a unilateral decision to bring an IIT to Shel-Melauli in his constituency, on a sprawling 10 lakh sq. meters of land. However, when the local populace caught wind of this plan, they assembled in large numbers at the site, driving the surveyors away.

Rane infamously stated, "Opposition from the people cannot stop 'IIT' at Sattari; IIT is a feather in the cap of Goa." He then deployed a significant police force, led by his loyal police officer, Sagar Ekoskar, to accompany the surveyors. When the residents stood their ground, the situation escalated into a lathi charge by the police, met with retaliation from villagers hurling stones. Rane even sent police to disrupt a press conference held at a temple by leaders of the protest, going as far as to detain an elderly individual.

As the protest garnered support from neighbouring villages like Pali, Hivrem, Mauxi, Dhamshe, and Khotodem, Rane realized that his bluff had been called by the people. He swiftly changed his stance and requested the relocation of the IIT project, stating, "I am with the public, and I will never go against the wishes of the people."

Similar events unfolded regarding the draft zoning plan for Pernem, where Rane attempted to convert 21% of the green cover into a concrete jungle in the name of development. When the people of Pernem rose against this proposal, the Town and Country Planning minister had to sprint with his tail between his legs.

To save face, Rane initially claimed that the plan would be put on hold, awaiting a decision from the central government. However, as public pressure mounted, he reluctantly scrapped the plan entirely, all the while repeating his familiar refrain, "I am with the public, and I will never go against the wishes of the people."

The glaring question is why the people were not consulted from the outset. The answer is all too apparent; Vishwajit Rane was primarily focused on his own interests and those of his well-connected land developer friends.

The rejection of Rane's development projects by his constituents in Shel-Melauli and the people of Pernem signifies a severe erosion of his credibility among Goans. Notably, the late Manohar Parrikar, an autocratic former Chief Minister of Goa, exposed Rane's questionable intentions on multiple occasions during his time in opposition.

For instance, Rane sought to hand over a substantial portion of Goa Medical College (GMC) land to Israelis for a super-specialty hospital. Parrikar's scrutiny led to the project's cancellation.

Another pattern observed in the Shel-Melauli and Pernem incidents is Rane's tendency to scapegoat others to push through his projects. In Shel-Melauli, he accused an individual of encroaching on government land, blaming them for the project's opposition, and promising to reclaim the encroached land. Whether Rane fulfilled this promise remains uncertain.

In the case of Pernem's draft zoning plan, he accused Mandrem MLA Jit Arolkar of building an illegal farmhouse and pledged action against it, yet the outcome remains to be seen.

Now, Rane appears to be outsourcing governance to the Centre, bringing in high-ranking figures from Delhi, such as Modi and Shah, rather than heeding the concerns of the local people. This raises questions about the role of the Goa government, Vishwajit Rane's purpose in government, and why Goans should accept the central leadership dictating terms.

If Vishwajit Rane cannot fulfill his elected role of serving the people, it is time for him to consider resigning as a minister and MLA, and perhaps retiring from politics altogether.