Tourism Minister Manohar Babu Ajgaonkar, nobody is interested in the draft Tourism Master Plan. Not even ministers in your own government. If Calangute MLA Michael Lobo and Cortalim MLA Alina Saldana were present at the presentation, it was only to tell you that the document is flawed and a colossal waste of public money. How can any master plan be presented to legislators without any active involvement of stakeholders and the general public?
The dismal turnout of MLAs at the presentation is not only a setback, but also makes it amply clear that MLAs are not in a position to face the wrath of the people especially at a time when elections are precariously looming.
A master plan cannot be decided only by the MLAs. There is a larger debate needed involving the people of the land. Tourism is the mainstay of Goa and is now the main revenue churner in the absence of mining. Any policy decision on tourism will have an impact on the State’s economy. Hence, the draft of the tourism master plan should not only be restricted to only the stakeholders, but should encompass the entire people of the State. And now with Goa standing at crossroads over the new CRZ notification, it gives even more reason for the tourism minister to go to the people.
Interestingly, the only involvement of people is seen through the Sentinel schemes. And the trend has caught on with the tourism minister planning a sentinel-type mechanism to crack down on tourists creating nuisance. All you have to do is click a photo and sent it to Ajgaonkar. And Ajgaonkar will do the rest? Voila!! We bet this will beat Power Minister Nilesh Cabral’s SMS mantra where any electricity issues can be resolved by texting him. Power to the people this? Involvement of people comes in strange ways. A sentinel-type attempt was made by the government on unattended garbage long back. It had not only failed but also left behind piles of garbage photos that the government helplessly watched. The very fact that the government is relying on people to do moral policing indicates that it is woefully short of manpower to enforce discipline. How skewed is this when on one side the tourism minister wants active participation of the people to handle erring tourists while the very same people are not wanted when it comes to framing policies and master plans. Now that the government is going ahead with CCTVs along a few coastal areas, it remains to be seen how effective this will be to ensure tourist discipline.
It is apparent that the tourism minister remains disconnected with the ground realities of his department and those who matter. There can’t be a quick-fix for tourism and its related issues. The laws of the land and its policies should be in sync with its people.
