NCP asks Goa govt to release 'report card' of ministers

Panaji, May 18: Nationalist Congress Party on Monday asked the Laxmikant Parsekar-led BJP government to make public the 'report card' of its ministers, saying not doing so is akin to its admission of failure in governance.

The government recently prepared the report card as a mid-term exercise and Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar, former state chief minister, was instrumental in drafting it.

BJP general secretary Satish Velankar was in the state last week to conduct the exercise. Though Parrikar had said that preparation of report card was an internal exercise of the party and it need not be made public, NCP's state unit spokesman Trajano D'Mello has criticised Parrikar's statement.

"The statement of the defence minister that the report of the government has been prepared and will not be made public is a clear admission that government has failed on all fronts," D'Mello told reporters in a press conference.

Taking a dig at government, the NCP leader said, "It's the same attitude of a child who feels ashamed to show the report card to his or her parents after failing in examination."

The very party that came to power on the promise of transparency is working day and night to cover its sins of commission and omission, he added. D'Mello asked the government to release the report so that voters can understand which minister is the best and worst in terms of performance.

"The BJP has no right to keep the report card which has been made by them into their private property and to keep it a secret as this government is running the affairs on tax-payers money," said D'Mello.

PTI