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Goa governor blasts Centre

Sandesh Prabhudesai in Panaji

Goa Governor, Lieutenant General (retired) J F R Jacob has come down on the Centre for consistently punishing the state for its impressive performance.

Addressing the National Development Council meeting in Delhi on Friday, he pointed out, ''Goa, liberated 14 years after India won Independence, has achieved some of the best human development indicators, though it could not participate in the first two five-year plans. It has shown excellent results in population control, prudent fiscal management and social development. But the Gadgil-Mukherjee formula has been giving only 7.5 per cent weightage for performance criteria against 85 per cent for population and per capita income.''

The governor also alleged that experts have underestimated the number of poor people in the tourist state. The actual number of people below the poverty line is double that of the estimated figure, he said.

As Goa's request for a change in the criteria of central allocation has been consistently ignored by the central leaders as well as bureaucrats of the finance ministry, the governor has suggested that the Planning Commission and the finance ministry should develop a multi-state external assistance project, clubbing Goa with the special category states.

Reiterating the demand for 50 per cent performance weightage, the governor has also urged the Centre to retain Goa's share at the existing level of 0.041 per cent and not to reduce it to 0.028 per cent.

Due to the indiscriminate policy of central allocation to small states like Goa, the tourist state is presently passing through a serious financial crisis which has crippled its infrastructural development programme in the last three years, he said.

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