But then, whom should will we blame if those meant to be primarily interested (NRIs in this case) don't set the agenda, clearly and in an unconfused manner?
Over the years, I've seen Goans blame unfunctioning politicians, institutions that are broke, a bureaucracy that is heartless (and mindless) and lobbies ... for a whole set of their ills. And they are generally right! But isn't it also the duty of the citizen to critique sharply, study issues diligently, lay down the agenda accurately, and pursue it in a way that politicians can't simply slip away? I fear that Goa has (and all of us Goans have) failed badly on this front. So let's start doing our own job. Is it possible to build a "list of pending issues" from the perspective of expats in different countries around the globe? In terms of priorities? What are the pending issues that need to be looked into? What are the things that the state government can play a role, where the Centre needs to do something, where voluntary action or simply lobbying can make the change? Education, health, properties, air travel, airport, elderly relatives, communications, remittances, information, responses from officialdom ... think of some issues and set the agenda. Goanet is a fora where this can be easily done. Give it a serious thought. Maybe a sharable Wiki, where notes and brainstorming could be uploaded, could be a suitable way of doing this. If we gain momentum, we could have a specific list of bullet-points ready for early Jan 2007 and the NRI convention there. FN On 05/11/06, Roland Francis <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > I read the Gulf newspapers on-line and compared to what the Kerala > Govt has been doing for its expats, the Goa Govt should be ashamed of > themselves. Kerala offers its NRIs preference for good real estate > opportunities, quick disbursement of remittances, identifies genuine > businesses they could invest in, arranges for smooth burial proceesses > of Keralites dying overseas, takes up legal cases of Keralites > victimised in the Gulf countries and offers poor labourers good > insurance coverage so that their families in Kerala are not > impoverished should the bread earner perish. The list could go on and > on. -- FN 9822122436 +91-832-240-9490 (phone calls after 1 pm please) Free the airwaves... for India's sake (see the article at the URL below) [http://www.tehelka.com/home/20061111/20061111.asp?filename=18.jpg] _______________________________________________ Goanet mailing list [email protected] http://lists.goanet.org/listinfo.cgi/goanet-goanet.org
