Governor Satya Pal Malik, who became voice of Goans in 10 months, transferred to Meghalaya

PANAJI: Goa governor Satya Pal Malik, who became people’s voice and popular among Goans in his short tenure of 10 months, was transferred to Meghalaya on Tuesday. Maharashtra governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari will hold additional charge of Goa, the Rashtrapati Bhavan said in a statement.
Malik, who saw the reorganisation of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh into Union territories as its governor before moving to Goa in November 2019, was proactive and outspoken about several issues relevant to the state, including the state government’s handling of the Covid-19 crisis.

Malik had ticked off the state government for mismanaging the Covid-19 crisis by taking incorrect decisions and had warned CM Pramod Sawant that New Delhi was keeping close watch on Goa’s Covid situation, advising Sawant to “pull up his socks”.
Malik had also called out a lie by Sawant for saying the governor had said though the government was managing Covid situation very well, the media was portraying a negative image. “It was irresponsible… he (Sawant) has done mischief,” he had told TOI.
With Sawant failing to make any progress on the two crucial issues plaguing the state—the Mhadei water sharing and restart of mining operations—Malik had filled the vacuum by raising these issues with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and home minister Amit Shah and got a favourable response from the Centre.
“I had a good experience in Goa, and the government was cooperative,” he told TOI on Tuesday. “The situation was such that other than Covid, we couldn’t concentrate on anything else. I wanted to do something (more for the state), but could not,” he said.
Malik, who had asked the state government to put on hold the decision to construct a new Raj Bhavan, calling it “irrational and imprudent to even think of it when the state is reeling under an acute financial crisis amid the pandemic”, said there were many unresolved issues that needed to be sorted out.
“The state is facing the coronavirus problem, there is little revenue, and the non-resumption of mining remains a problem. People have left agriculture, and this should be revived. Issues with other states must also be resolved,” he said.
In April, Malik wrote to Shah asking him to intervene and facilitate the early resumption of mining in Goa.
In December, after Malik’s intervention, Modi assured the governor that he would resolve the Mhadei issue, and after that, the Centre decided to keep in abeyance the environment approval it granted to Karnataka for the Kalasa-Bhandura water diversion project.