<< Considering it is virtually impossible for an "outsider" to open business in Kerala, how difficult is it for a Keralite (or for that matter, any non-Goan) to open business in Goa? Has this "loophole" been closed yet? >> Gabriel de Figueiredo \\ Seems a rabble rousing viral outbreak has hit our folks *Down Under* Lawrence \\
Hi Lawrence, One can understand 'bharati' colaco barking in the dark about "neo- colonialism" from far-off Macau, but Gabriel definitely is a more sensible person though, one must say, his knowledge of the Indian administrative set-up is a bit hazy at best. His pet peeve is that brown-skinned Indians from other parts of the country are holding key positions in Goa. For the benefit of all those diaspora Goans who keep broaching this isssue every now and then, I would like to compare the situation with Kerala, the main source of their heartburn. It may come as a little bit of revelation to them, but the fact is that nearly 70 per cent of IAS/IPS and Indian Forest Service officers in Kerala are from outside the State -- including more than half the district collectors, district police chiefs and divisional forest officers. Yet I haven't heard any Keralite complaining that "outsiders" are "colonising" them. A majority of the high court judges and almost always the chief justice are "outsiders." The State Governors are never appointed from the same state. It's part of the checks and balances meant to deter them from dabbling in local politics, at least in theory. Julio Ribeiro never held any post in Goa. He was the police chief of Bombay and, later, Punjab. Did any Mumbaikar or Punjabi say that Goans are "colonising" them? We had a Goan army chief. Did anyone keep cribbing that the Indian Army is being "colonised" by a Goan? If you don't find too many Goans in the administrative machinery, it's because Goan youth shy away from tough competitive exams. If you want to be the Chief Secretary or the police chief of a state, you only have to pass the Civil Service exams. No one will deny you a posting simply because you happen to be a Goan. But the posting may not be in Goa. If Goans filled up all the key posts in Goa, as Dr Gilbert Lawarence pointed out the other day, I shudder to think of the consequences. Not that they are inefficient of particularly corrupt but, as you know, absolute power corrupts absolutely! Cheers, RKN
