New Insights, New Realizations
Gosh, would you believe it! Our CM has finally realized the root problem that plagues Goa. No, it is not corruption, it is not bad roads, it is not inefficient ministers and officers. Lo and behold, it is our LAND!
We must congratulate our CM who has finally decided to introspect a little. Land is our problem and the misuse of our precious land is not the solution. How are we going to go about preserving our land Mr CM? This is a question we are all asking you and we hope you are not still ‘examining the matter’! What we need to say is that peoples’ participation in this process is of utmost importance. We have trusted you and your ministers with our land and so far you have made a mess of it all. We cannot afford this trend to become a dangerous fad. We need to step in and ask you what exactly you have in mind. Do we really need golf courses and do we need to use our precious land to satisfy tourists? Remember Mr CM you now need to be part of the solution or else you are going to be part of the problem. Also remember that the solution must be with the consent of the people. Nobody has given you and your ministers and the MLAs the right to act alone as far as our land goes.
There has been more news from the lips of the CM. He has resolved to achieve cent percent literacy and electrification by Liberation Day next year. Well, those are surely setting high standards and let us hope he can get even half-way there. That would be an achievement in itself. And if the ideal is reached, then we must say that that would be the first positive achievement of the chief minister. I am sure many would join me in wishing him all the best in this endeavor.
But analyzing the facts on paper, electrification in this sense would mean just having electrical connections in every household or would it mean having continuous power supply in every household? This would be a million dollar question. Right now most households are surviving with invertors and I do not comprehend how the poor families could accommodate to this phenomenon.
Literacy is always the bone of contention. We have had Goemkars excelling in various fields, but not many from Goa. Most of them went out of this paradise to shine. Why can’t the education system in Goa improve? Would it not be advisable in this age and time to consider English medium as the medium of instruction at the primary level? Konkani should be made a compulsory subject in this case. I have personally experienced how difficult it was for my children to jump from Konkani medium to English medium in Std V. There will be many political compulsions and also many pressures from private institutions who charge those exorbitant fees. But does the CM have the guts to at least ‘examine the matter’?
What has happened over the years is that the MLAs, both ruling and opposition, have built a lot of distrust amongst their constituents and Goans in general. It is but natural that every project would now be opposed and every move watched with suspicion. In fact it would be best to oppose these projects and wait until they can be shown to be good projects before reconsidering the opposition. For us we have only our mankulem Goem and not much more. We need to be very careful about how we utilize this precious space.
With the call for other Konkani speaking areas to be merged with Goa coming out strongly from some quarters, it would surely ruffle some feathers. But could it be that our CM would be a happy man inside? My ‘little birdie’ has again informed me that he does have his roots in Karwar. So, it could be that he is silent because of political compulsions but he must be really happy within! But as far as this move goes, what does the aam admi Goemkar think of it? This has been rejected once before with the call for Vishal Gomantak finding no favor with Goans. I remember how our famous Tiatr comedians late Jacinto Vaz and Late M Boyer, in those good old days, took up this issue at their shows and convinced us it was a wagh coming to destroy Goa. First it was the merger with Maharashtra that was conclusively rejected at the opinion poll. Now this talk of merger… This should not have come up again.
Recently, the prolific writer Valmiki Faleiro released a very precious book. It is one that could inspire many a youngster and it also conclusively ensures that the legacy of Goans in the armed forces is engraved in history, forever. 'Patriotism in Action', a book about Goans in India's defence services, brings out the best of the Goan contribution to the country. For me, this is one of the best literary works ever written in Goa in recent times. But there is one point in the book that is worth noting and which our dear CM and his cabinet colleagues should also note down and maybe highlight with a highlighting pen, as one to be acted upon post-haste. “The defence forces are much safer than the Goan roads…!”
Goan roads are not about four-lane highways. How can those highways happen when the internal roads are a mess? With the drastic increase in traffic, the roads are a death-trap. The government has done precious little to right this menace. We have lost many a precious life on the road and we will continue to do so unnecessarily. I suppose we will see some change when a minister’s kin becomes victim of some tragedy on the roads of Goa. Until then, my dear fellow Goemkar, we will have to wait patiently. About corruption, the lesser said the better!
Besides people in the government, this is something we really need to ponder over too. As parents, we must also be open to the idea of our children joining the forces. I think the Goans listed in the book are enough inspiration to our youngsters who have any such aspirations.
Goa is a paradise on earth, so they say. I don’t believe in the talk that makes the rounds, “Goa is gone.” Goa is ours and will always be ours. What we need is to decide what we want for our Goa and let those in power know what it is we really want. We do have some NGOs who are sincerely trying to do something for Goa but we also have some groups who are in this for some personal or political gain. We need to decipher one from the other and keep miles away from the latter. I have heard that some NGOs take up causes, take them to a feverish level and then they and the cause just disappear into thin air.
Every coalition government will have political compulsions. But every citizen of the Goan society does have social, economical and traditional compulsions as well. Land is involved in all three aspects. We need to preserve our land and ensure that our generations to come have a healthy atmosphere to grow up in. We need to dictate terms and not really be dictated by the powers that be in the government.
