An interesting paper from Pranab Mukhopadhyay http://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&lr=&c2coff=1&safe=off&q=cache:1y7TlxmO1vQJ:www.ictp.trieste.it/~eee/files/Mukhopadhyay.pdf+Goa+Portugal
Resource Use and Property Rights: A case study in Western India Pranab Mukhopadhyay This paper examines the historical and contemporary state of property rights relating to land in Goa. An attempt is made to relate the change in land-use to the impact of tourism in the last two decades. The paper attempts to formalise the dynamics between the gaunkars (the descendants of the original settler families of the village) and the other components of village Goa (especially the tenants) from the colonial to the post- Independence scenari Understanding Communidades A system of gaunkaris (or communidades) existed in Goa, a small western state in India, which were the local self government institutions pre-dating the Portuguese colonisation of Goa (in 1510). These local self-governments not only had administrative powers but also financial and judicial powers for all aspects of life falling within the geographical jurisdiction of a communidade. After Goa joined the Indian union in 1961, there has been a loss in the powers of the gaonkaris since it has been replaced by Panchayats as the new political and social form of local government. There are, however, significant differences in the powers, responsibilities and social sanction of the two forms of local government which currently co-exist in Goa. The Panchayats have the sanction of the Indian constitution as the eligible form of local self-government. In the devolution of powers, financial and administrative, it has a clear constitutional mandate. However, historically and legally the Communidades predate the Indian constitution and therefore the Panchayats. The question that then arises is which framework of local governance should be followed in regulating resource use. There does not seem to be a satisfactory answer to this question given the slew of legal cases pending before the courts in Goa at the current point in time and also the hesitancy of the state authority to articulate a consistent position. This vagueness in jurisdiction and administrative configuration has led to various gaps in the framework regulating property rights (over resources). -- _____ _/ ____\____ Frederick Noronha * Freelance Journalist * Goa \ __\/ \ India T +91.832.2409490 M +919822 122436 | | | | \ http://fn.swiki.net http://goabooks.swiki.net |__| |___| / http://www.bytesforall.net http://www.bytesforall.org \/ ----------------------------------------------------- Writing with a difference, on issues that really make the difference.
