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On Sun, 31 Oct 2004, Dr. Jose Colaco wrote:
My dear Aloysius, Yes, the doors are closing all over the wrld because of Desi Abuse of systems. However, I believe that babies born to migrant workers (WORKING in Goa and paying their share of the taxes) SHOULD receive the same benefits Goans are entitled to.
Are we confusing issues here?
(i) What's happening at the international level isn't quite comparable with what happens *within* different regions of a country.
(ii) Comparing the two would probably be inapt, because of two reasons. People can travel within a country without any restrictions. Secondly, the economic disparity would not be that sharp, as it is at the international level.
(iii) AFAIK, where a person is born is immaterial in an Indian context, in most cases.
(iv) Generally, the basis for discrimination is domicile, which is 15 years in Goa's case -- at least on paper.
(Interesting to note here that a stringent application of such rules would work against many expat Goans themselves, as is happening in the case of those based in the Gulf. But that's another point.)
In such a context, the argument that people come to Goa to have their children born here would be untrue. Maybe they came because Goa once had better hospitals than the surrounding districts (today, places like Belgaum have caught up and raced ahead).
Paying "their share of taxes" can also be a misleading argument, in a context of low tax compliance. Some years back, the number of tax-payers in India was just a million or two (though now efforts to increase compliance are being stepped up.) A lot of taxes here are indirect taxes, which fall probably more heavily on the poor. Maybe someone more qualified on this subject could enlighten us.
FN
