Narvekar uses Amartya to counter Willy
03 November 1998 11:50 IST Politicians tend to use anything and everything under the sun, provided it suits their political convenience. Now, it's turn of Dr Amartya Sen, the great Indian economist who is honoured with a Nobel prize.
Dr Sen's assertive contention that the state's per capita income cannot be considered a real indicator of the actual growth and poverty is being conveniently used by Goa's planning minister Dayanand Narvekar, in order to settle his scores with chief minister Dr Wilfred de Souza, in a three-month old coalition government.
To let down Dr Willy, Narvekar first wrote a letter to prime minister Atel Bihari Vajpayee, blaming the centre for not giving enough share to Goa out of Rs 2000 crore contributed to the central treasury through foreign exchange, central taxes and mining cess. Alleging that Goa is being considered colony of Delhi, he even warned the PM of state-wide agitation.
This obviously upset CM's plans to seek a one-time grant of Rs 150 crore from the BJP-led government, on the basis that the BJP is also supporting his coalition government at local level. While clarifying the whole matter by holding a press conference in Delhi, Dr Willy also publicly threatened to drop Narvekar from his cabinet.
But Narvekar, known as an overambitious and shrewd politician, in reply to de Souza's letter seeking an explanation, asserted his point further. In an attempt to ridicule the planning commission for not agreeing to increase Goa's allocation for central assistance, he claimed that the basis on which funds are allocated is totally wrong.
The Gadgil-Mukherjee formula used by the PC also considers the per capita income of the state, which is one of the highest in the country in Goa. Obviously, the tourist state loses its share here while the population figures are also comparatively much less in the tourist state, affecting the allocation further.
Quoting Dr Sen's theory, Narvekar demanded that the allocation should not be decided on the basis of Goa's per capita income. He now even claims that the poverty figures are also elevated while 30 per cent of Goa's population actually lives below the poverty line.
There are no concrete figures to substantiate his poverty figures, but Dr Sen has undoubtedly came to his rescue to counter the planning commission, which ultimately helped him to settle his political scores with Dr Willy.
