GOD Save Goa

In cricketing terms, Goa has got off to a really poor start in 2018. The supreme court judgement means mining is going to come to a grinding halt by the middle of March 2018. Then we had a taxi strike which apart from damaging the tourist image of Goa, severely dented the reputation of many politicians. The formation of the Greater Panaji PDA was another setback that exposed the behind the scene activities that take precedence over Goan interests, It is surely a messy affair for Goa going forward, no pun intended. Then the body blow, the one person who is cornerstone of this Government, CM Manohar Parrikar is sick with mild pancreasitis.

The Supreme court judgement has far reaching consequences. The short sighted approach to try and bypass the auction clause has led to another stoppage. One can argue that by renewing the leases Goa, has saved it self from gang lords or that it prevents transfer of  goan mines into the hands of so called outsiders. The point is auctions as proved in the case of coal mine auctions bring in much needed revenue for the State and everyone can bid, including local mine owners (this term itself was a fallacy, they were actually goan lease holders). We seem to have no issue handing coal mined by an outsider in Australia but if the same Adani grabs a lease in Goa, that is a problem, why?. If one looks at the landscape of hotels there are very few goan owned hotels and many owners actually lease out their properties to large groups from outside. So what is sauce for the goose should be sauce for the gander.

Unfortunately, every MLA is batting for renewal of leases, are they just saying it for the gallery or do they really want Goa to continue to be short changed as before. The argument that poor people in the rural areas will get effected and thus it was necessary to renew the leases in a hurry without application of mind. I do hope that going forward the MLA’s will actually stop playing to the gallery and start by agreeing to do what is in the best interests of Goa over the long term. The latest development of an all party team of MLA’s heading to Delhi is not going to be anything more than a jaunt. Neither is a new law foreseeable to bypass the Supreme court order as was done in the case of Cidade De Goa. People are very right is expecting something similar as if can be done for an individual why not for a larger population? MLA’s will find it hard to answer the people for sure. Unfortunately the fact that Parrikar is indisposed is going to hamper this decision even further.

The taxi strike was avoidable but dodging the bullet and passing buck will solve nothing. The Supreme court decision has to be taken seriously and implemented. This issue of speed governors is diversionary, and the taximen are right. Accidents are not only caused by speed of the taxis but also poor road engineering, jay walkers potholes etc . The real issue got swept under the carpet, that is the issue of allowing  taxi aggregators viz Ola Uber or Meru. Why can the taxi trade not see the explosion in usage with the app based system. Today, the focus is only on handling tourists. Why should locals be left out, imagine the opportunities for locals to go for an outing just because a cheaper mode of transport is available at their doorstep. The State can have a taxi culture that rivals Mumbai or Bangalore. This means more business for taximen, but the rider here is you have to drive to earn, no more playing cards and make a killing on one fare and relax for the rest of the day

The fact that citizens are the least of our law makers concern is very evident in the formation of the Greater Panaji PDA. This is a move where despite denials, is clearly a back room deal sealed to reward Babush for giving Parrikar a walkover. The deal is going to create a mess as if it goes through despite the opposition, will mean that we can see such adhoc PDA’s springing up all over Goa, as a reward or to create lucrative posts for all and sundry, …..one can imagine some people already planning and carving out the different areas of Goa.

And while there is so much action or inaction going on, the star batsman, the cornerstone of this Government has had to retire hurt. Retired hurt and having to go to Mumbai and beyond what what is being described as mild, speaks volumes about the state of our health care in Goa. Parrikar, came back  to present his budget, is it because he did not trust his nominated second in command, to present it verbatim or could it be that it could cause strife within the party? Then there is Goa Forward who is expressly part of this rainbow coalition only because Parrikar is the CM, what will be their stand if the absence is for a longer duration? If there is one U turn one can pray for it would be to see that CM Parrikar moves from ill health to healthy as soon as possible.

God please save Goa.

Politician’s Fish is Goan’s Poison

Our politicians take decisions usually in their interests and with scant regard to the existing laws made by them. They have got away with it as the common man has no ability to challenge. Where a challenge has been made as in the case of illegal mining, the ones effected with the judgement are those who had no ability to right a wrong situation and went along, viz: mining dependants. The actual beneficiaries have got away scot free.

Then we have the case of GIDC where the Government of the day uses this Corporation as a milch cow. Despite rules to the contrary the Government ordered GIDC to transfer 2 lac square meters of land to a logistics Company, something existing rules do not permit and that too while the code of conduct was in force. Most matters related to citizens is put on hold citing code of conduct, yet here such a big decision was taken one day before the election results. In the hurry GIDC transferred the property without receiving the charges in advance and just on an undertaking that the party will pay. Strange, but it happened because of meddling by politicians and a pliant bureaucracy.

We saw the swiftness with which the police acted against a local lad who was selling fruits from the boot of his car while parked at an open space near the Ravindra Bhavan. The reason the police acted was that he was obstructing traffic. One has only to walk down any road and see how many illegal business are operating, you can see mini vans from neighbouring states selling fruits and vegetables at junctions. Why are the police not acting in these cases. Again without a doubt there will be some meddling politician behind this move.

Be it mining, illegal deals in GIDC or illegal encroachments on the roads, they all have the blessings of politicians who think of them selves first and citizens and Goa only in speeches. These politicians usually pit one set of people against the other and come out trumps. The show goes on and the citizens watch helplessly.

The FORMALIN FISH has the same meddling politicians doing what they do best but this time they may have overstepped the line. The FORMALIN FISH effects each and every goan worth his salt including the die hard supporters of the same selfish politicians. The foot in the mouth syndrome continues from “’natural forming formalin” to “permissible levels” to “FDA officials had no right to do their job” it is all coming undone, there is no place to hide. Even the belated knee jerk reaction of banning imports a week after the first formalin fish was detected or rather not detected is off no use because the citizens had already acted and the empty markets bore mute testimony to their wrath. The wholesale traders accepted the ban without a wimper, they had too because there are no customers.

Even if you do not eat fish, they cat is out of the bag, in defence of adulterated fish they have pointed out that adulteration is a common occurance even in fruits and vegetables. Well if this was known why no action was taken?

Each and every goan is thinking, “I have got effected with this formalin fish and my beloved politician does not care for me”. If he did care he would have acted differently, he would have acted swiftly, he would have had some one go and check the source, find out which processors brought formalin and how much? Surely for this scale we are talking about barrels. They would have gone to the manufacturers of this hazardous chemical and found out who it was sold too. They would have checked stocks already in the State. Instead they are talking about setting up testing centres at entry points, we all know how porous the State borders are, we all know that a truck full of fish how can you take a sample, empty the truck? They are talking about banning imports. Shifting the wholesale market. But no talk about the main issue, ADULTERATION. There has to be someone responsible, the formalin as we know did not come there naturally. Adulteration is a criminal offence, why no arrests? NOTHING, NO ACTION ONLY TALK.

The police want the FDA to complain, who complained in the case of Maclon? Can they not act on a citizens complaint?. The FDA Director should actually be given a medal, she backed her official M/s Ida who helped open a can of worms. Unfortunately she is now awaiting a transfer as PA to IGP as it happened in the case of the Director Fisheries  who did not follow the politicians writ. So we cannot blame the bureaucrats because citizens do not stand up for them when they are bullied by politicians.

Hopefully this loss of fish from our diet will galvanise us out of our sleep and we will become more aware that the politicians are taking us for a ride. The people of Goa have to act because they are the ones forced to eat poisoned fish. One way is keep the pressure on so that the judiciary takes notice and forces the Government to act and bring to book all those involved in this horrific and dastardly act. Goans say “No” to all fishy business.

GIDC: D=Develop or Destroy

This first appeared in The Herald

The Goa Industrial Development Corporation is in the news for the wrong reasons. The units in the industrial estates were informed through a press statement that henceforth their lease rents will be increased. This unilateral decision has irked the industry. The lease rent is sought to be increased despite valid lease deeds which already specify the amount of lease rent due from each lease holder. This move is unethical and unprofessional.

Professionalism is the last attribute GIDC strives for, this is very difficult for the employees to be professional because the position of Chairman is usually a political appointee and thus decisions are usually taken arbitrarily from a political point of view. Politicians as usually wield authority but almost no responsibility.

Another arbitrary decision which defies all logic is the rate for raw water supplied in Verna. To reduce the dependence on bore well water by industries, CM Parrikar ensured that a 20 MLD storage facility was set up in the industrial estate. Since the laying of pipes to supply the stored raw water was delayed by GIDC, it was agreed that the Association would organise tankers and GIDC would charge RS 10/- per M3. A year later, the association gets a notice stating that the actual rate is 25/M3 applicable from day 1. They also issued a circular doubling the water charges with immediate effect without any corresponding change by the PWD. The GIDC gets water from the PWD and supplies the same to industry. Just doing this GIDC loses 2 crores a year . No one has ever looked at ways of reducing or plugging this loss.

This sudden urge to top up the coffers of GIDC comes from a dire need to find funds to pay salaries.The GIDC is looking at means which actually threaten the future of industry, a raise of 2000% in some case and an average of 300%. This increase is hardly reasonable.

Why has GIDC which at one time was sitting on piles of cash that they used to give money to other Corporations viz Kadamba, SAG and even for the Quepem Road . The reason is not hard to find. It is poor decision making and worse abdication of duty by employees tasked with the job of safeguarding the interests of GIDC.

The biggest expenditure is maintenance of infrastructure viz roads etc. The GIDC board had take a decision that before a contractor was paid finally, a certificate of completion would be taken from the respective industrial estate association. From 2015 on wards there was rush of road contracts issued and not one on them has any completion certificate, so technically all are illegal. The Government should audit each contract in terms of scope of work, when was Board approval taken and for how much, any enhancement given and why. This is the major areas where GIDC funds are wasted.

The salary bill is reportedly 25 crores. How did this bill come up? There is a complaint in the CVC that the 6^th pay commission increase has been erroneously applied thus causing a huge loss to the exchequer. A staffing agency, Shudha Facility Management Services, has been employed to recruit and staff GIDC offices across the industrial estates, this is not housekeeping staff but field managers. Is this right? The authorities should find out why the Corporation is using such a service when it is a well known fact that such employees get lower than assured salaries despite signing for higher amounts. Why is the Corporation not hiring on contract directly, instead of paying taxes on this service too?

The cash strapped GIDC has now put in place a farewell gift of 10000/- per employee who superannuates. Should not farewells be a private affair, why this largess and why start something not present in any other Government Corporation.

Given the political pressures over the years, employees have all decided it is better to be quiet than sorry. An employee who was heavily involved in the GIDC scams pre 2012 and was put to pasture is back and close to the top. Apparently he knew all the loop holes that could be converted into plots. This gives a wrong impression to other employees and finally no work gets done.

Thus lease rents or sub lease changes are not collected. The field managers do not report subleases not registered or plots not utilised for fear of ruffling feathers, and so there are huge arrears on lease and sub lease rentals.

The last areas that one can look at for want of space to write is wrong calculations of amounts due. The classic case is that of the 50000 sqm plot sold by Babu as Chairman of GIDC where atleast 2 crores is due as short lease and wrong interest charged. Till date nothing is done. Another case which begs a CBI inquiry is the transfer of the Meta strips plot. Against GIDC rules it was transferred to a logistic company. The lease deed signed without GIDC receiving the transfer fees, but against a bank guarantee which is nowhere stipulated in the rules. The transfer charges are wrongly calculated and the figure reported is 26 crores. The best part of this illegal deal is why Canara Bank which had released advertisement taking possession of the property allowed GIDC to transfer the same without an NOC from Canara Bank. This is clearly a case of collusion by GIDC officials to defraud the bank, else why have a system of obtaining an NOC before transfer?

Hence, inefficiencies of GIDC if transferred to industrial units will have a detrimental effect. It is time GIDC pulled up its socks and professionalised its systems so that it is truly a development body for industry in the State.

Potholes, leave GOD out of it.

This 1st appeared in the Herald dt Sept 2018

Recently the PWD Minister blamed the rains for the potholes in the roads, or in many cases roads among the potholes. God sends rain so indirectly he was blaming God for his department ineffectiveness. If what he said was true, we know that as far as Goa is concerned every square inch of land gets rain pouring on it. So, logically there should not be a pothole free road at the end of every monsoon.

Yet to the Citizens good fortune there are roads unaffected by the entire season of rain, for example one can drive on the Margao Panaji Highway and except for the areas where the 8 Lane bridge work is on going most of the road is pretty pothole free. The four lane Airport road, built by Border Roads Organisation, a pleasure to drive on and the Sonsoddo Macazana road untouched for a decade imagine the savings from well built roads like this. Surely the Gods are not partial. They do not look down and say we will spare this road or that. There is another explanation.

The explanation is simple and should have been given by the PWD’s technical people. Pot holes have a direct relations to road engineering and material used. This seemingly simple fact is ignored when we hear the powers that be say, once it stops raining we will repair the potholes. They do under urgency clauses where the specification is cover the pothole and nothing else, so the pothole promptly appears the next time at the slightest hint of rain.They have now released Rs 10 crores for filling potholes. How does one estimate material required, surely something is being filled and it is not potholes for sure.

Road engineering is a highly specialised topic and takes into account many factors, most important is the load which would vary with the speed and braking. Related to the factors selected under load, the materials would have to be chosen, including thickness of the asphalt. Water is Enemy No1 of Asphalt, rain water or any water flowing over the road, drainage assumes a key significance.

Lets take example of the ARLEM circle and compare it with the COLVA circle. Both fairly close to each other so rainfall on both over the now ending rainy season would be similar if not equal. Yet the Colva circle was thankfully not worse for wear where as the Arlem circle resembled the moons surface, it could have been worse but for two or three touch ups done (read money poured into potholes).

Why would it happen? Load, the heavy trucks going through the Arlem circle are a lot more that what passes through the Colva circle, heavy 20/40 foot container trucks either heading to South India from the Port or Belgaum since they cannot use the Zuari bridge. The turning circle is not optimum and hence these trucks pull up the tamac as they have to turn on a point. So load is an issue and the asphalt is not able to handle it

The Colva circle never has much water accumulated except for the spot in front of the Colva exit where the road was dug to repair a pipeline. That is clearly the point where a major pothole has formed. The Arlem circle on the other hand has no such luck, the moment it rains water collects all around the Circle.

The black top seals and ensures no water enters the top layer. Road digging by sewerage or Reliance damage this seal coat. Then untrained contractors hired by these agencies do a careless half baked job of repairing the dug out portions. They do not bother with compaction or ensuring proper seal coat. With the first sign of water this becomes the starting point of the pothole. Arlem Circle has a Reliance Tower and a sewerage line passing next to it. This one example clearly shows the effect of road engineering and the fact that repairs are done by unskilled contractors leading to huge potholes and draining the exchequer.

Check the new concrete road in front of the Bambolim cross, it is supper bumpy. Imagine what will happen when the speed on that stretch increases once  the road opens, who has certified it today as fit for use? You can check the roads you use and post pictures on social media to highlight these issues.

The last factor that effects road quality is greed. Everyone looks at the PWD roads division as a money spinner and thus it is an “in demand” portfolio. This can only be curbed by insisting on multiyear guarantees for roads. General public will have no issue who makes money if they have a good porthole free road to ride on.

The lessons that can be learned is that road contractors must be held responsible for the roads they build, say three years guarantee and if any potholes develop they must repair the same free of cost. They must also write their name prominently besides the road they build.

It is a well known fact that in order to meet the lowest tender prices compromises are made in specifications which are glossed over when preparing the measuring sheets. Hence, tender specifications must be easily available so that in case of failure, it can be easily checked by any independent body. Eg: thickness of asphalt layer or water logging.

Any agency digging up the roads must ask PWD for permission and pay an amount sufficient to repair the road using proper road contractors, preferably the same contractor who built the road in the first place so there is no possibility of a blame game.

The effect of the heavy rains was plain to see and human errors and greed have made Gods rain a pain.

GIDC Board Needs Support

This 1st appeared in the Herald

First, I have to apologise for saying GIDC was going to pay the SEZ promoters 15% interest, the rate agreed is simple interest earned on the FD’s made out of SEZ funds less tax paid. This appeared in my column “Not Again GIDC dt 21^st August 2018”. This error was pointed out to me in a healthy discussion on the functioning of the GIDC board by an industry colleague.

However, that was not the only error, the impression given in the news reports was that the GIDC Board had decided to pay the promoters the principal and interest, however it was a decision apparently taken by the Council of Ministers sometime in July 18 and the job of GIDC was to organise the funds which at present are non existent. Unfortunately, the GIDC board was not given complete information. GIDC management gave Government information with mistakes without approval of the GIDC Board.

Assuming the SEZ promoters funds were parked in FD’s and earning interest, it should be quite easy to believe that the principal is available. That is not available is evident from the fact that GIDC is considering auctioning part of the SEZ land in Verna, proceeds of which will be used to pay the promoters. This itself will cause problems because GIDC already has a policy as to how much land can be allocated to utilities, which is the land that can be auctioned. GIDC proposes to auction 50% of the land available post allocation to open spaces and IPB, this is against the existing policy where utilities can be only 10% of available land. They also missed the fact that today as per GIDC policy only 7.5% needs  to be allotted to open space. Whoever prepares documents which Board members rely on to take decisions should be careful and through so that Directors can make a good informed decision.

However GIDC policy could not be considered by the GIDC board as they got instructions from GoG.. The GIDC policy as notified, is very clear that interest cannot be paid on land that is surrendered to GIDC. This fact though mentioned clearly seems to have been missed in the decision making process both at the cabinet level and GIDC board level. More over, the fact that the High Court of Mumbai at Goa has declared  “allotment of lands made to the companies is illegal, the possession of the lands will have to be restored to the GIDC”, was not highlighted to the decision makers. Was such an important aspect/fact left out by mistake or deliberately?

Another argument in favour of paying interest and getting the land back quickly was the analogy of the tenant and landlord. Landlords will agree to settle tenants quickly so that they can get back their land and make a killing rather than be stuck in litigation. If this logic were true we would not see so many landlords and tenants battling it out in the courts. The point is GIDC surely behaves like a landlord more and a development body less normally. In this case, because of the lack of information and veiled political expediency to get the land back and make it plots, the board lost the plot. Why should you pay interest for something illegally allotted in the first place. Why has the Board not demanded any action against those responsible. The money for the land auctioned/leased today or tomorrow will always be increasing given the fact that land is a finite commodity and not perishable. Time is on the side of GIDC.

Focussing on the interest component, it is a figure which should be constant. Meaning simple interest for Rs 100/- at 8.5% p. a. should be Rs 8.5 every year. In GIDC most of these calculations are done historically by the Estates department and not by the accountants. This leads to a situation where there is almost 23 crores difference between what is reported in the balance sheet and what is calculated by the Chartered Accountant. There are four different interest calculations and each arrives at a different answer. Should this not raise eyebrows? Also, there is a difference between what GIDC has calculated ie 256.19 crores and what was submitted to the SC by the AG on behalf of Government of Goa/GIDC ie 256.56 crores. Approx Rs 37 lacs, since it is public money should these figures not be accurate and if there are difference should they not be reconciled and corrected before submitting to Cabinet/ Supreme court? Or does it not matter as no one asks questions? If anyone has questioned, there appears to be no record.

The Congress has demanded withdrawal of this payment or settlement but they fail to mention the fact that the Leader of the Opposition Babu Kavlekar who was Chairman of GIDC during the allotment of SEZ has been let off the hook by the same cabinet decision. So is the Congress making a noise for the sake of making a noise? Can we be sure that there is no quid pro quo. The Congress who is threatening to hold liable all current board members who are party to this new decision but are silent on the greed of those who belong to their own party who created this mess in the first place.

Going forward, apart from taking a better decision based on facts with reference to paying interest, GIDC agendas minutes and information presented to the Board must be considered a serious activity and if there are half truths or omission, someone must be held responsible so that every decision taken by the GIDC Board reflects the commitment of the board members. Lets hope one day GOA FIRST will be the operating policy.

Unearthing Black Money: Start with election affidavits

1st appeared as an OpEd in the Heraldo

The demonitisation policy was touted as the biggest move in India’s history to break the back of the black economy and as a bonus the counterfeit currency would take a hit. A master stroke which would kill a minimum of two birds with one stroke. The counterfeit industry would have surely taken a hit and it will take some time to generate new genuine looking counterfeit notes, ofcourse good photocopies are already available.

The many unscrupulous bankers colluded with the cash hoarders and the demonitisation policy failed miserably with just about 3% of the old notes staying out of circulation, this means that the effort to hit the black economy failed miserably. It succeeded in creating hardships for the common man and the common man’s sacrifice has come to nought as the objective was not met. Infact the cost of this operation will be even higher than the 3% which was shut out.

The Government is not very happy with the situation, so to try and pull back some of the illegal cash that has slipped thru the dragnet, the IT department has gone into overdrive to seek out the black money. They have received lacs of responses which they have to go thru and that would be akin to searching for a needle in a haystack.

However, one wonders why the Government is looking at such methods, there are simpler ways to get to a major portion of the black money generation and owners, the politicians. It is an open secret that this strata of society is responsible for generation i.e. fees under the table for permissions have to be paid in cash so that they can use their discretionary powers and any and every contract usually has a kickback component. Thus they also accumulate this cash all the time and appetite is insatiable. Yet there is not a single action that would attempt to get at some if not all of the black money from this class. The 80:20 rule is pretty much applicable, 80% of the black money will be with just 20% of our ruling class.

The recent elections saw all the aspiring candidates file their affidavits of assets and liabilities and rather than shift through lacs of explanations of why “X” deposited “Y” amount of cash which will take forever, the IT Department should check out these affidavits especially of those standing for re-election as they can easily have a compare affidavits and see where there is evasion.

Let’s take an example of Mr X. He has stood for elections in Goa in 2007, 2012, 2014 and 2017. He lost in 2012. His net worth increased 80% in 5 years.ie an average of 16% /year, during the period he was an MLA. However, post his election loss his net worth increased by an average of just 1%/year. Surely his salary as an MLA could not have been the contributing factor to the phenomenal growth of his net worth when he was an MLA. In 2014, MP election his income as a non MLA dropped to 62 lacs against 1.6 crores he showed in his IT return for 2010-11. In 2017 his income in the IT return drops to a mere 27 lacs?

Lets take another example Mr B, a sitting MLA. In 2007 he was a small time businessman with almost nothing to his name, even his qualifications he subsequently watered down. In 2017, he realised he had brought an apartment in 1993. Do these affidavits have any sanctity? By the end of his first term he had tripled his assets, and multiplied these assets an astounding 6 times in the last five years. Just bank deposits went from a measly 5 lacs to 1.5 crores. His income increased 50 times from 1 lac to 50 lacs. He even managed home loans from LIC and the Goa Legislative assembly while the affidavit dose not reflect any such home. Does the Legislative assembly not keep proper track why the loan is sanctioned? The market value of an asset goes up seven times with three years when for all practical purposes real estate has been flat, was the acquisition undervalued? We could go on.

There seems to be a direct corelation between income before and after becoming and MLA. The IT department is always looking for sudden spurts in income or assets and that is why they have raised questions on the cash deposits. So should they not be studying the affidavits of MP’s/MLA’s to start with and then move on to MLC’s and Panchayat members?

There are some gaps in the information asked for in the affidavits, for eg: Only income declared in the last IT return is mentioned, they should provide details of income for each year if a person was previously elected. The investment in insurance is a grey area, why not ask how much was invested in insurance every year? While the cost of acquisition is mentioned, what is not mentioned is the market value at the time of acquisition.

While most businesses had a hard time maintaining their bottom lines in recent times but for our MLA’s that is a small matter, they turn into King Midas once they become MLA’s and better if they are Ministers. Maybe a few are good businessmen, but to believe everyone of then is honestly earning the huge increase in income and assets is to be surely naive. So in keeping with PM Modi’s intolerance towards “kala Dhan” the focus should shift to screening elected representatives and ensuring that the black economy is tackled from the top and not starting with the common man. A good IT officer will do a much better analysis and unearth much more if allowed.

Acknowledgement: The data it readily available on the website of Association for Democratic Reforms. www.adrindia.org

Matka: Why Not

1st appeared as an OpEd in the Heraldo

A public spirited citizens appeal to the court has sparked a renewed debate on Matka. Once the court took notice, there has been a flurry of activity with the police arresting so called Matka bookies in what one can term Non Value Adding (NVA) activity. In industry NVA is sort to be eliminated as the name suggests doing that job adds no value, hence arresting these so called matka bookies is absolutely useless as the arrest will not stand the scrutiny of the court and after a few years the accused will be acquitted.

The police know about the existence of the matka outlets because when they go on their rounds surely they will see the classic matka booth, a low box table with sides high enough to conceal the transactions from prying eyes walking along the road. The police have not learnt or do not want to learn from previous acquittals. They catch a person with chits, some cash and lock him up, report the numbers to the press. For a few days it is holiday time for the matka business. In court they will be asked to present witnesses and they will have none, the cash they say is for a bet, but they do not have anyone who placed the bets in custody, you need two hands to clap right, and finally they cannot prove that the money seized during the raid was used for gambling.

If the police had the will they can ensure a conviction, marked money and decoy customer routines are well established in raiding suspected institutions. One cannot blame the police as they are taking the blame for the entire system that actually supports the matka business. They are just one part that is forced to act because the judiciary has intervened and in a way has promised to commission a special squad to investigate the matter if the police cannot. Maybe in a bid to pacify the court and show that action is being taken, the police launched this half hearted drive which will last but a few days before everything goes back to normal.

The solution is to allow matka to function openly. We have allowed casinos, we have allowed lottery’s and every State has its own lottery, we allow clubs to organise bingo, so where is the problem. The official problem is that Matka spoils families because winners of poor families get addicted and drive the family into debt and penury. Surely this oft repeated and half baked argument against matka will hold for casinos or any other form of gambling. The stock market, after famous crashes do we not hear off suicides by punters who lost heavily. Why is there no talk of making investing in the stock markets illegal? So why apply it only to matka.?

The other unofficial problem is that currently keeping it illegal or not official forces those who run the matka operation to “oil” the system to prevent hiccups. If matka is made legal this oiling will stop and huge revenue would be lost.

Gambling is something that each individual has to decide if he wishes to or if he can afford to indulge in. There is no way the State can stop a person wanting to gamble, or for that matter drink. Within days of the Supreme Court decision to ban bars on highways, accidents in Goa claimed eight people in one day. So be sure, matka or no matka people are going to lose their money in one way or another.

Look at the positive contribution of matka. First, it is an additional revenue stream for the shop keeper, at no additional cost. If it was legal he could keep operate it from within his shop as if selling any other ware. Then there is employment. Matka employs many otherwise unemployed youth and since they are not cheating anyone, it is a good clean income. The matka trade is known for its ability to deliver winnings without any default. This itself should be a plus point. So even if it does not contribute any taxes to the State it is doing the State a favour by providing direct employment to thousands. These people in turn will spend their earnings and the economy gets a boost and that adds to the indirect tax kitty of the State.

Given the situation, why does the State not move to make life easy for everyone and legalise Matka. There is actually nothing they have to do, is there any specific law that governs bingo or marbles for that matter. Let the people play. Automatically the “better/player” will go to an outlet which gives him an official receipt and the results will be posted as a printed list or as an advert.

The Matka papers will benefit as other related establishments will begin to advertise. If there is a dispute it can go to the consumer forum and the only time the police will be involved is if there is a fight where law and order is breached. If a player wins big he will include it in his tax return as done by casino players, it is small he will just let it go. Once in the open and transactions are official TDS can be deducted on payouts, which will accrue to the Government as most of the winners will be in the exempt bracket, and it they pay taxes they can take credit.

Make matka legal and save the courts time and energy, police can focus on catching criminals and ordinary citizens can relax and bet. It is win win for all.