30 govts in 57 years, VP expresses concern over instability in Goa

Panaji, Jan 9 Vice President of India M. Venkaiah Naidu on Saturday expressed concern over chronic instability in Goa's political spectrum, saying it is difficult to justify 30 governments in the state in a span of 57 years.

Naidu, who was addressing past and sitting legislators as part of the Goa Legislator's Day function, also said that it is important to introspect as to why the state has been politically so unstable.

"Goa has had 30 governments during the last 57 years. This is quite a huge number by any reckoning. Eleven of these 30 governments have had a tenure of less than one year, ranging from six days to 344 days. Another three governments lasted for less than two years. Only three governments ran a full term of five years each," Naidu said.

"Also, the state was placed under President's Rule for as many as five times for a total of 639 days, which is around two years. Change of government mid-course for genuine and compelling reasons is democratically sanctioned, but frequent such changes raise the issue of political stability and the ability of the governments to deliver," Naidu said.

The Vice President also complimented the people of the state and successive governments for the rate of development, which has placed the country's smallest state in the upper spectrums of the good governance indices. But he also said that the state may have performed even better had there been more stability in its politics.

"Stability and ability go together to make progress. Though Goa has done well... despite such frequent changes in government, it is difficult to justify such political flux. This results in negative perceptions. The question that I would like to raise is would Goa have done much better with more political stability," Naidu asked.

( With inputs from IANS )