The NRI Meet in Dubai -- My Take (Part II and last) by Eugene Correia
A student said she wanted to join the medical college in Goa but she had to pay Rs 25 lakhs for admission. I am not sure if she said these fees were for students of NRI parents under NRI quota. Dourado joked that paying so much would mean she won't have anything remaining for her dowry. When Dourado began his replies at the end of the question session, the student was gone. He explained that there is now an entrance test for all students, no matter what they score at the exams. He said he would check with the authorities and asked participants if they could contact the student so he could get her email. A paper was circulated to get each of the participants' email but obviously she left before she could put her's down. Dourado, as quoted by the paper, slammed the visit of previous NRI members, obviously the one led by Keni, the chairman. No doubt Keni and other members came on "invitation", but I didn't see any reason why Dourado had to criticize the group. I think Dourado is coveting Keni's post. Though Dourado and Keni, along with the other members, owe it to the Parikar government for being on the executive committee, I don't know if Keni enjoyed or enjoys the BJP support. Now that the political regime has changed and Dourado being a Congressman, it won't be a surprise if Keni is kicked out and Dourado takes his place. >From my attendance of the 2005 Gomant Vishwa Sammellan, I could see tensions between the Catholic members and the Hindu members of the executive committee. There was lot of backbiting. I wish anyone who attended this year's convention could throw more light on the proceedings. Maybe goanet carried some posts on it and I obviously missed it. The Keni group was entertained in Dubai by one of the goanetters who is no longer active on this forum. I must say that the informal gathering at the goanetter's place was much cordial and interactive than the one that was conducted by the Dourado group. There was the secretary taking notes, unlike at this meeting where all three were taking notes. Brigadier D'Costa spoke saying that we must proceed forward and lot look back. He said that as a soldier he always keeps hopes. When I asked him in private before the meeting on the general NRI scene in Goa, he said there were some associations and they were confusion among them. Dourado also lectured on unity among NRI Goans, and at one point remarked that "if there are three Goans, there are four associations." This is hackneyed remark. One of the participants suggested that NRGs should form "pressure groups" to influence the government. Well, the reason the NRI Facilitation Centre is set up is precisely to act as a "pressure" or "lobby" on behalf of NRGs. Besides, there's an advisory committee, on which the Kuwait representative is Wilson Coelho, who organized the meeting there. There's one Joaquim D'Souza for Dubai, but he obviously wasn't present at the meeting. No information was given whether he was contacted by the group, since it was Pravin who worked to put the meet together. These representatives are supposed to gather complaints and forwarded it to the centre. The Emirates Post reporter George asked Dourado if they had contacted the Indian consulate, and Dourado said no. I think if Dourado or Pravin had asked the consulate for space to hold a meeting, I am sure it would have been granted. George also said there is no Goan officer in the consulate as there are from other communities to deal with respective community groups in Dubai. Dourado seemed amazed and said it could be a coincidence that there are officers belonging to different ethnic groups, as he had not aware that this is the norm in selecting these officers. George is a former media advisor to the Indian embassy in Abu Dhabi. When Dourado said that the "political scene" in Goa is such there is corruption, George asked him if he could go on record. Dourado tried to wriggle out of the situation saying he has to tell the people the truth but doesn't want to be quoted. He said that the media wasn't invited for the meeting, and though George came on his own will on reading about the meeting in the Gulf News, Dourado welcomed him. He told George to "understand" the situation when reporting about the meeting. It was George who suggested that the Goa government think about starting a steamer service to meet the demand of the NRGs since there is only an Air India direct flight to Goa. The Indian Airlines fly to Goa via Kerala. Dourado explained that the airlines being commercial they would rightly seek to know the if it was financial viable for the airlines to increase direct flights, in the case of Air India, or start new ones instead of going via Kerala. Dourado said he, along with Dr. Willy, was responsible in having a direct flight from Kuwait to Goa. On the question of identity cards for NRGs, Dourado said they should apply for PIO cards. I informed him that PIO cards are only for those Indians who hold foreign citizenships. So much for his knowledge of NRI issues. Now that his two children are also NRIs, having newly come to Dubai, Dourado may get a "family" view of things in the emirate. I doubt Dourado, and probably members of the committee, have read the LM Sanghvi report on Indians abroad. There's a full-fledged Overseas Ministry at the centre, and I advise NRGs to follow any statements or announcements from the ministry very carefully. Lot of the problems that NRGs face are "generic" to other NRIs from different states. This month the Telugus (Andhra Pradesh) are having an NRI meeting in Dubai. Pravin mentioned that there should be trust between NRGs and the NRI Facilitation Centre. When I called two people to come with me for the meeting, both said they were not interested because they don't have trust in such groups. After the meeting I called a well-known Goan and asked him why he wasn't present. He said he wanted to come but he had guests. He further added that NRGs have learnt bitter lessons from past experiences in getting involved with Goan groups who come with ideas of setting up commercial ventures. He said many NRGs have lost money. One of those I contacted said he was not happy that Dourado has leading this group, and informed me that he would have joined me if Eduardo Faleiro was the leader or at least a member of the group. So much for trust in a leader like Dourado. For those who don't know, Dourado is now running a trade union in Vasco with most members belonging to the "migrant" labour. The migrants who are in Vasco and mostly on this Dabolim hill form Dourado's "vote bank", though I am not sure if he will get a chance to run for the assembly again on a Congress ticket. He is also president of both the Goa men's and women's hockey team. On my last visit to Goa, I had informal talks with one top official of the Goa sports department and I was informed that field hockey is gone to the dogs in Goa. I received a recent email for someone who is knowledgeable in sports matter. And I quote, "hockey in Goa is dead as a dodo for as long as I can possibly remember, and Herculano Dourado is singularly responsible for this. The Sports authority of Goa has termed the Goa Hockey Association as defunct, but beyond that can do nothing since Herculano enjoys tremendous clout within the Indian Hockey Federation. In India where politics and votes count, IHF president KPS Gill can be assured of the lone Goan vote during elections. It suits him not to disturb Herculano while Goan hockey continues to suffer. TA few individuals keep the game alive by conducting tournaments here and there." Sad commentary on a person who comes to lecture on unity. Furthermore, his running of the First Goan Youth Convention was termed "dictatorial" by those who attended the convention and were involved in the early stages of the run-up to the convention. When I asked him why he didn't submit the accounts to the International Goan Organization, which had nominated him when he came for the First International Goan Convention in Toronto in 1988, he replied that if he informs me that the youth convention was a loss would the organizations such as the Goan Overseas Association (GOA), based in Toronto, send the money. I told him that's a secondary question, but he must follow the norm. At the youth convention a general body meeting of the IGO, which was born at the 1988 convention, was held and at the elections Dourado was elected secretary-general defeating Zulema de Souza of Toronto. I believe Dourado filled the meeting with his supporters, most of them who were non-bona fide members. From those who attended I learnt that Dourado wanted the IGO secretariat to be permanently based in Goa on the basis that the state is the home to all Goans. Ultimately, the IGO was reconstituted and relocated to Toronto. It's another story on how that happened and how the IGO functions today that would take lot of space to tell. I was told that the government and many private companies and people gave funds to organize the youth convention. Probably some of the goanetters who attended the event can share their experiences and provide us with any inside knowledge they may have on how it was funded. Just imagine Dourado running the NRI Facilitation Centre. Though there's an executive committee, a monitoring committee and an advisory committee, I have my fears that the centre under Dourado would serve his own interests more than it would service those of the NRGs. This is my gut feeling. In this context, I would suggest the Goa government disband the Parikar-appointed centre. Any further initiative should come from Eduardo Faleiro, since he enjoys cabinet rank status. Till Faleiro gets his Terms of Reference and sets up a full functioning office, the centre should be suspended. Faleiro needs to build trust among NRGs. He is a politician alright, but I think he carries more credibility than Dourado. I have dwelled more on Dourado because it was he who gave almost all replies while Brig. Ian D'Costa spoke briefly at the start and made few points during the proceedings, and Mohandas Surlakar proposed a vote of thanks in Konkani in the end. __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com _____________________________________________ Do not post admin requests to the list. Goanet mailing list (Goanet@goanet.org) Help/Unsubscribe/Update your Subscription: %(user_optionsurl)s This email sent to %(user_address)s
