Appeals under various Acts including Municipalities, Panchayat, Excise and others are heard by officers seating at the Secretariat in Porvorim. But with the entire bureaucracy led by the Chief Secretary having surrendered to the political class, it would be in the interest of justice that these appeals be decided by a judicial authority. It is pertinent to note that many of these officials who lack judicial knowledge just sign the orders drafted and prepared elsewhere. It is a rank miscarriage of justice if appeals are heard by officials who are caged parrots of the politicians.

 

Gone are the days when IAS officers would stand up against wrong diktats by politicians. Today sadly leave alone bowing and bending they are ready to even crawl around the politicians whose puppets they have chosen to be for varied reasons. Some fear about the skeletons they have that could be exposed, for others the lure of a post retirement posting in Goa keeps them glued and enslaved to their political masters.

 

The sad state of our bureaucracy is a matter of concern, with their loyalty to the politicians and not to the rule of law. Over the decades we have seen outstanding IAS, IPS, IFS and IRS officers serve in Goa with a solemn duty to the State. They dared to put dissenting notes on proposals and projects that there were against the State. They acted as guardians and custodians of the Rule of law. They were a class by themselves. And sadly, all that is history today.