It was billed as an unique gathering of Goans who
migrated to States outside Goa but within India (the
earlier emphasis was on the Goan diaspora
worldwide)the first of its kind. "Together for Goa" as
the brochure edited by Mr. Jagdish B. Wagh and
released on the ocassion suggested.
The technocrat, Chief Minister, and Chief Patron of
the Sammelan, Sri Manohar Gopalkrishna Prabhu Parrikar
mooted this gathering and got the Non Resident Indian
Facilitation Centre which comes under the Home
Ministry, to chalk out a day long programme on an
otherwise hot summer day on 31.5.2003
But as Mr. Dinar Bhatkar who appropriated to himself
the title of "Promoter " of the Sammelan apparently
owing to his close proximity to the Chief Minister
candidly admitted �that unlike other Sammelans this
one did not have a ready blue print to rely on and
hence there had been many slips and deviation in the
schedule�
Indeed so much for the paucity of time running out
that one veteran educationist and panelist on
Education Manguesh Korgaonkar had to candidly admit
"there was never an ocassion in his lifetime where he
had to make a presentation on education at such a
short duration of two minutes".
There were other issues that surprised delegates like
Atul Kamat aged 72 years from Sirsi,"why Ponda should
earn the distinction of hosting the first Sammelan of
this kind? he enquired of this writer " this
Central Taluka in the New Conquests came under
Portuguese rule only in 1763 "when the chunk of the
Goans who migrated outside Goa within India, were
mainly from the coastal Talukas or the Old Conquests
under Portuguese rule from 1510 upto 1961".
Notwithstanding the official version that Ponda was
being promoted as the "Convention Centre" for the
future, this writer observed from the Register
maintained for those coming from "outside Goa" at the
venue that most of the delegates were from Jogeshwar,
Thane,Girgaum, Andheri,Vile Parle all settled in �
amchi Mumbai�and their roots belonged to Priol, Savoi
Verem, Mangueshi Ponda . They were members of some of
the over 16 Organisations in Mumbai viz; Gomant Seva
Sangh and the Goan Hindu Association.
There was also the President of the "Goenkarocho
Ekvott" Ms. Suman Kurade whose association has become
vibrant the advent of the BJP regime in Goa since
October 2000 Goan Association in New Delhi.Hence the
venue was close to their roots.
There were others from Mangalore, Uttar Kanara Belgaum
and Trichur in Kerala.
One participant Ms. Leela Singbal from Juhu pointed
out to a mistake on the official placard reading as
Rajiv meaning "Lotus" while the Hall was actually
christened as Rajiv Gandhi Kala Mandir in memory of
the late Indian Prime Minister. "Could this be a
political twist to suit the current dispensation in
power in the State?" asked Ms. Singbal with a
mischievous wink. There was no doubt that the BJP
Government had made the deliberate ommission and what
is ridiculous is that the local Press did not condemn
this stunt by the Government.
Sadly there were no signs of the Catholic Community
Goans from the from the Old Conquests. The Goans who
have registered their indelible mark on the rest of
India. Those that migrated to Mumbai, Nasik, Nagpur,
Belgaum,Kolkatta ,Bassein , Pune,Vasai, Bhopal
Madurai,Cochin etc. The several who worked for the
adminstration under British India rule or in the Nawab
Palaces or Defence establishment. The Goans who
worked in the Andaman & Nicobar Island or Patna
Jamshedpur, Jaipur, Baroda, Karwar, Mangalore
Ahmedabad.
Among those felicited with Gomant Bharati Awards
were General Sunith Rodrigues ex Chief of Army , Fr.
John Correa Afonso, Mr. Jaiwant E . Talulikar, ex MD
of TELCO, Mr. Antonio Prabhu Gonsalves , music
composer, Dr. Ajit Kerkar, ex-Managing Director of
Indian Hotels Company Limited , Mr Damu Kenkre,
ex-Director of Cultural Affairs Govt of Maharashtra
and Mario Miranda cartoonist in absentia.
Infact many of the participants were dismayed by the
organisors of the functions.
It was not clear who was running the show as things
started drifting. The function commenced an hour late
and the official excuse was that the Chief Minister
had not arrived. This has been the common alibi ever
since the BJP Government came to power, giving the
impression that the CM runs the adminstration alone
while other Ministers are ---you guessed what.
What was extremely riduculous was that while the
function should have actually tried to ascertain the
views of the several Goan delegates who had moved
outside Goa by "compulsion or choice to better their
educational economic or social advancement", or to
ascertain their views on what they thought of Goa
after 41 years of Liberation or 16 years after
attaining Statehood and whether they would like to
come back to their roots given the conducive
opportunities for the same and if in the afirmative
what assitance they would require from the Goa
government in this regard..
The organisors provided just three minutes to the
delegates and adhered to it strictly as if at an
elocution competition. Ironically the moderator for
this "session on Delegates views" Ms Suman Pednekar
President of Goenkarcho Ekvott from Delhi did
injustice to delegates of her own kind viz; to Goans
like herself who settled outside.
In the process much of the Sammelan objectives lost
its purpose.
There was this emminent Dr. Zahir Kazi, ex President
of the Goa Medical College Bambolim and Member
Secretary of Bombay Anjuman which runs thousand of
charitable Insitutions who provided an excellent
presentation on how the Goa Government needed to
upgrade its Health Care facilities to International
standards which could also enhace the Tourism
prospects of the State given Goas natural beauty.
Then there was Mr O. S. Ramchandra a "niz Goenkar" who
headed a 14 member delegation of "KUNBI " Goans but
now call themselves as "Kudumbi" but speak Konkani
albeit with a Malayalam accent. Mr. Ramchandran
shocked the audience when he stated that there were
four lakh members of this community spread over in
Kerala Trichur Trivanthapuram Allepye, but were a
disenchanted lot. Despite the State of Keral Keral
having over 995 Panchayats, 58 Muncipalities, 5
Corporation there was no representation for this
community in Kerala in any of these bodies forget the
Assembly and the Lok Sabha. They are today engaged as
fisherman, labourers attendants and other menial jobs.
Interacting with this writer one of the delgates clad
in spotless white " lungi" Mr Bal stated in mised
Malayalam and Konkani" our history of having migrated
from Goa dates back to the period from 1512 to 1600
we are Kunbis in Goa but we call ourselves " Kudumbis"
. They were present for the Sammelan at the invitation
of the Goa Government.
" We are trying to ascertain the village of our roots
Yesterday 30th May they visited the Lord Mallikarjun
Temple which is our deity in Canacona" Apparently
these Kunbis may be oroginally from Gaondongrim or
around it would be interesting for Goan historians to
trace their ancestry. However at the Sammelan there
was no host to attend to them some wer seen snoring in
the Hall as the entire delibeeration of the day was
mainly in English. There was one delegate Mr. Atul
Valulikar who said " if Parrikar could bring back
these 4 lakh " niz Goenkars" who were suitable in
menial jobs maybe we could deport the over 6 lakh
non-goans that have settled in Goa " Yet the
organisors did not apply their mind to this issue.
There was yet another Dr. Arvind Kulkarni who
suggested the setting up of "Khullar" for the benefit
of Non resident Goans . A dormitory type which would
be of utility to those who aspired to come back to
their roots. This proposal found ready acceptance by
the Chief Minister at the Question answer session..
Then there was Basti Vaman Shenoi who spoke on the
uniqueness of Goan cusine which needs to be promoted.
The various utensils kitchen wear some of which was
tastefully displayed at the entrance of the Rajiv
Gandhi Kala Mandir. Others whio spoke were Dr Ashok
Amonkar and Mr L. S Kabadi.
There was a presentation made by one Melson Louis on
behalf of South Goa Public Interest Action Group
(SGPIAG) a margao based NGO . He claimed to have
collated views expressed by Goan Association of Bengal
(1946)earlier named as the Indo Portugese Association
of Bengal in 1911 , The Catholic Youth Association of
Belgaum, The Pune Goan Institute.
There was a special mention made in the four page
presentation on the need of protecting the age old
clubs "kudds" in Mumbai from being taken over by the
real estate. There was a need for the Goa Government
to address this issue with the Government of
Maharashtra as these "kudds" could help Goan students
visiting Mubai for edcuational purposes or post
educational training in idustries in Mumbai.
According to SGPIAG many of the Goans would be ready
to settle in the land of their roots but they wanted
the Government to assist them on retrieving their
properties from illegal encroachements, expediting
inventory partition and mutation cases, and relaxation
of domicile and language requirements for employment
and education their children once the Goan identity
or parentage was ascertained, and finally relaxation
in subsidy emtitlement for setting up industries. They
also suggested that a separate cell or Department be
created for non resident Goans settled in India for
effective interaction and enabling them settle in Goa
At the question hour session which was held after
sunset the Chief Minister agreed to upgrade the Non
Resident Facilitation Centre,but disagreed with the
suggestion of a Department because of the lethargy
that sets in with the bureacracy. He assured to acede
to the demand of relaxation of domicile requirements
and as far as legal impediments on property matters
since these involved legalities he would review the
system at large not only to benefit the non Resident
Goans but aslo Goans at large and cited the move of
his Government to conduct the fresh Land Survey this
June itself.
While the above interaction was vital the organisors
were so obssesed with the rankings of " the Best State
or a progressive State " provided by a widely
circulated magazine INDIA TODAY, the XI Finance
Commission, the Economic Times -Center for Monitoring
of Indian Economy (CMIE) among the twenty eight
States of India and tried to make presentation on the
"ROAD MAP FOR THE FUTURE" of Goa .
Precious time almost five hours were spent on
presentations on
EDUCATION by the Secretary (Education )Govt of Goa
Mr.Manguesh Korgaonkar (Non Resident Goan NRG) Mr.
Atmaram Khedekar (NRG) Dr Suresh Amonkar, ex
Principal M. S. Kamat (Moderator)---- emphasising the
need of developing the human factor and need for
English.
INDUSTRY by the Secretary ( Industries) Govt of Goa
Dr, V. A, Pai Panandikar,(NRG) Yatin Kakodkar and
Moderator Blaise Costa Bir -----without coming out
with a concrete policy till date
Post lunch session
TOURISM by the Secretary (Tourism ) who made an
unscheduled mention on Information Technology plans
and the projections for the future based on a Master
Plan being finalized upto 2010 others were Dr Ajit
Kerakar, (NRG) Mr Vivek Nair (non Goan) Jagdish Wagh
and Moderator Avdhut Timblo
finally CULTURE by the Secretary (Culture)
Mr. Damu Kenkre(NRG) , Vinayak Khedekar, Manohar Rai
Sardessai and moderator Pundalik Nayak.
They spoke of the Governments plan to form a committee
under Dr Nanda Kishore Kamat of Goa University to
formulate the first of its kind in the country
Cultural Policy for Goa, after Bangladesh.
A definition of who is a Goan emerged as one who is
acquainted with -- a gaunkari, a mandd a
barazan,Satteri Shantadurga Milagres Pir sannas
sorpotel bebinca ghumat deuchar intruz --- the one
who maintains "Dharmik Sloka: - communal harmony and
one who believes culture as different from religion
and accepts Konakni as mother tongue emerged from Mr
Vinayak Khedekar.
It was clear that the organisors were selective while
they went on giving time scheduled of two three
minutes to some if some speeches sounded music to the
organisaors others were allowed to drag on endlessly.
The Chief Minister Manohar Gopalkrishna Prabhu
Parrikar was displaying his best public relations. He
was seated on the back benches in the auditorium
either with his IIT luminaries or those that matter in
governance and freely interacted.
The speakers stated that there were approximately 6
lakhs Goans outside Goa which percentage wise
accounted for 30% of the population of Goans.
There was a display of fruits and farm products by the
Goa Bagyatdar Sahakar Kharedi Vikri Saunstha Maryadit
Ponda . Besides that an excellent exhibition on Goa
� A view from heaven� by Gopal Bhode a Maharashtrian,
and Goa Town & Country Planning photography � Land
Resources of Goa provided an excellent treat to the
eye.
The venue was tastefully decorated even the food
served vegetarian was excellent. The age old
traditional utensils at the venue also were a reminder
of the past rich heritage of Goa.
The Chief Minister spoke of a vision for Goa with the
help of the Non resident Goans and others, A vision
for "SUNAPARANT" Golden Goa.
He also ridiculed the Konakni protoganists that while
it was easier to speak Konkani its reading was
difficult and the Konkani protoganists need to address
themselves to this aspect. He said that with
globalisation there is need to downsize the flab in
the Government < He has succeeded considderably but
much more needs to be desired, If a cushion of social
security was provided which his government would
commence fronm July this year he sees no reason why
unproductive labour should be shown the door. About
corruption he has succeded in plugging the loopholes
but much more is expected.
The organisors were in for a shock when only one MLA
Mathany Saldhana made his appearance followed by ex CM
of Goa Ms Shashikala Kakodkar who sat in isolation
apparently to hear the presentation by heer son Yatin
Kakodkar on Industry in Goa. Others were Chairman and
Chairperson of the North and South Zilla Panchayats
but they were sitting in isolation. There was the
Chairperson of Margao Municpal Council Ms Kamlini
Poinguinkar as well. The organiser gave them each a
flower as if to thank them for their presence. Infact
the the delegates felt that the Non Resident Goans
actually deserved the momentos. But surprisingly
almost all the oragnisors carried one. When Pro M. S,
Kamat moderator was missed the Organisors rectified
the ommission and presented him one at the fag end of
the function. Surprisingly none of the other 38 MLAs
attended the function.
The Konkani teatro veteran Tomazinho Cardozo and
spouse were present to provide the entertainment well
beyond 8 p.m. but the organiors did not include him in
the CULTURE presentation though he was aimlessly
hovering around from seat to stage.
Towards the end the conclusion of the first ever
Sammelan was a committment to meet more often but the
CM did not specify the nexz date.
One delegate Shrish Pednekar remarked this Sammelan
should have been aptly named as GOMANT BRAHMAN BHARATI
SAMMELAN as none of the other 38 MLAs attended the
function, niether the BJP functionaries of the State
were present. There was a rumour that the meeting of
Sonia Gandhi Mulayam Singh and Ajit Singh to form a
Government in Uttar Pradesh was threatening the BJP
led NDA Government at the Centre and Goa Government
fate could change as well. Hence the absence of
politicians at the Sammelan.
godfrey j. i. gonsalves
borda margao goa
0832 734870
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
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