Reginald’s KTC puzzle

New chairman, but the same old stuff.
When, the bubbly Aleixo Reginald Lourenco called for a press conference on the state of the KTC, some of us journos thought this youngster would breathe out some fresh air.
But alas, he only flattered to deceive. These losses, those losses, diesel, staff, competition from private lobby, etcectra, etcectra... it was the same old story.
We've been hearing this story from the time immemorial. Chairman after chairman has been sobbing this story in obvious attempts to pressure the state government to release a larger quantum of funds, obviously to be looted and scooted through this arguably, most corrupt state-owned corporation.
To make matters worse, this otherwise no-nonsense legislator, blundered with his numbers too, making this same 'old story' sound so wrong.
Rs 11-odd crore, he said, was the operating loss for the last fiscal, primarily because of diesel costs for which the corporation shells out Rs 45,000 daily. Either Reginald's forgotten his school math, or 'thousands' in his new avtaar as MLA is too small a denomination to give it much thought. Rs 45,000 per day just does not add up to anywhere close to the Rs 11-crore loss of 2008-09, even if we presume that 100 per-cent of KTCs spend on fuel is a dead loss. It works to just Rs 1.64-crore, i.e. just about 10 per-cent of the loss. So, what else apart from diesel, staff salaries and the oft-repeated 'social cost' factor of having to ply buses on loss-making routes adds up to the Rs 11-odd crore? Isn't it 'corruption' sir?
Over a decade ago another first-time and as bubbly an MLA as Reginald had tried to set things right. The Enfield bullet-riding Fatima D'Sa. Barring a few self-conducted 'raids' at the KTC depot, which incidentally is located in her home's backyard at Porvorim, D'Sa didn't cut much ice. Reginald, however, has time on his side, and therefore, inspires hope for KTC's sake.
Will we see corporate governance making an entry in KTC's day-to-day functioning. Can the Curtorim MLA firmly ask his army of employees to either perform or perish?
And, if nationalisation of public transport is his mantra, can he deliver and keep everyone (the private sector included) happy by adopting the M&A (merger and acquisition) route, buying the private players out in phases till all Goa's private buses get owned by KTC and the drivers and conducters become its employees?
He's shown streaks of innovation in several of his public stances -- mechanisation of farming, English medium for primary education. I keep fingers crossed in hope that this youngster will deliver!

Murli ka ‘doosra’
Sri Lankan spin wizard Murlitharan's reign as the king of the 'doosra' is over. There's a new claimant to that throne, and it's our own desi Murli -- Murli Deora. Only, our guy doesn't wear a turban, is not Harbajan Singh who's struggling to produce as lethal a 'doosra' as that of the original Murli's, and plays no cricket at all. Instead, he presides over the country's Oil Ministry, which perhaps explains why he's so slippery and a past master at dishing out the 'doosra'.
A little over three weeks ago, the Minister told us here on our very own red soil of Goa, that "there is no possibility of a fuel price hike in the near future". Less than 48 hours later, his ministry announces a whopping Rs 5 per-litre increase in petrol prices! Now, if that's not a 'doosra' potent enough to leave the wickets of all of us, gullible Goans and Indians shattered, then what is?

Maggie becomes Governor
Not so long ago the Congress chief trouble-shooter in Goa, Margaret Alva has finally been rewarded by the Congress High Command for her unstinted loyalty to the party's highest command. The graceful lady from Uttar Karnataka has been laid the red carpet that will lead her to the Raj Bhavan of Uttarakhand.
Just on the eve of the General Elections, Alva, uncharacteristically, blew her top so to say for her son being denied an entry into Karnataka's state politics. Her messy byte to the electronic media, cost her a significant role and therefore the accolades for her party's fabulous Election 2009 win, although she got the ticket for Karwar and fought a losing battle, for yet another time. But those are bygones, and in happier times, 10 Janpath has elevated Maggiebhai to Governor, another of the Congress' strange ways -- punish only to reward later!

All want the teachers!
Any and every recruitment process of the government is always frought with controversy. Some, that have taken place in the last decade or so here in Goa include, former CM Manohar Parrikar's police recruitment, former PWD Minister Sudhin Dhavlikar's engineers' recruitment, the infamous cash-for-job recruitment in former health minister, Dayanand Narvekar's reign...the list goes on and on.
Now, there's another row is waiting to be kicked up in a round of teacher-recruitment on the verge of being executed by the present Digambar Kamat government. Strangely however, no party, not even the Opposition BJP, is making it a row even when it is a row.
On the contrary, the BJP's men, media men, all and sundry, are strongly lobbying with the government, both overtly and covertly, to accept the Goa Public Service Commission's controversially prepared list of 40-odd names for appointment as government school teachers.
One of the BJP's vociferous spokesman has publicly taken up the cause of the 52 listed to be teachers by the GPSC. Media men, are head over heels, lobbying to either get the list accepted or rejected by the government. In fact some sections of the media have even published news reports (sic) highlighting how the non-appointment of these teachers could jeopardise the future of students!
‘Commission’ or no ‘commission’, fact of the matter is, that all five candidates who ranked first, second, third, fourth and fifth in the written examination conducted by the GPSC, find no place in its final list submitted to the government. Quite a bit of ‘education’ on the GPSC, government, Opposition and last but not the least, my mates in the media!