Over the years Goa has seen some very outstanding Governors, others reasonably average and the rest not up to the mark at all.
In 1971 at the age of 11 it was my privilege to meet the then Lt. Governor Nakul Sen, while having also interacted with all other successive Governors including the outgoing Mridula Sinha. Her performance has been very lackluster to say the least while she blindly towed the ruling BJP line by even swearing in Ministers well past midnight. The Governor is constitutionally bound to question the government on its wrong doings and this duty is something Mridula Sinha abdicated through her entire tenure.
Mridula Sinha, who always travelled in a five car convoy despite never facing a security risk, will be however remembered for having last year burdened the tax payers by buying a Mercedes E200 for a whopping 62 lakhs. She had also stopped drinking regular water and instead switched to only tender coconut water while the Raj Bhavan everyday ordered two dozens of tender coconuts. Wonder what Mridula Sinha would do now when she returns back to her native Bihar?
What was also highly objectionable was that Mridula Sinha flouted the prefix Dr. by adding it to her name despite it being illegitimate for her to do so. Her own biodata on the Raj Bhavan website does not say that she was ever awarded a Doctorate. It would be prudent for Mridula Sinha that before she leaves Goa after her five year long sojourn to humbly apologize to the people of the State Goa for misrepresenting in a very dishonorable manner that she held a Doctorate.
The State is paying exorbitantly for the upkeep of the Governor and the entourage with most of it an utter criminal waste of public funds. No wonder the Goa Raj Bhavan is the only Raj Bhavan in the country adamantly refusing to come under the purview of the RTI Act. This veil of secrecy on the affairs at the Raj Bhavan cannot continue as transparency and accountability in the functioning of the government cannot be subdued. It is only arrogance borne from a deliberate habit of abuse of power that our politicians and Governor think that they are above the law.
The role of the Governor is very important and as Chief Executive of the State has Executive Legislative, Judicial and Discretionary powers that if exercised judiciously and with integrity could ensure the smooth good governance of the State. Sadly, there have been times and Mridula Sinha is a glaring example where through mutual cozy arrangements between politicians and the Raj Bhavan, this important office of State has been reduced to a rubber-stamping exercise as dictated to by the ruling party.
https://thewire.in/politics/goa-governor-rti-mercedes-raj-bhavan-lifestyle