We are interested in drawin a preliminary word picture of the essential characteristics of foresight (or lack of it) in Goa's society as a whole.
What we find is that Goa is fast becomin a sort of "neverland" where "naysayers" are valued. If they can drum up the hoi polloi to stop some big project or two in its tracks then they can even aspire to lead the state, or rule the roost. Its a kind of Gandhigiri though the elements of violence or threats thereof we are witnessin is worrisome to say the least. A whole raft of big projects have been halted if not reversed and a motley crowd of naysayin organisations have emerged all with the battle cry of "save (somethin or other of) Goa". Some say protectionism is destructionism. We end up destroyin instead of savin. The best exponent is Churchill Alemao though his track record in stoppages is mixed. The single good thing he did was to stop the imminent closure of Dabolim civil enclave by his tantrums on Mopa. A more recent star on the horizon is Oscar Rebello of RP2011 fame though he is supposedly a-political. Of late the unholy alliance of Manohar Parrikar, Babush Monserrate and Matanhy Saldanha have shown signs of 'promise' in this regard. Two leaders who seem to have a good head on their shoulders (i.e. for thoughtful stands rather than naysaying at the drop of a hat) are MPs Shantaram Naik and Shripad Naik. The main problem is how to exercise foresight for the state as a whole if there is absolutely no institutional capacity to at least evaluate big projects (from a formulation as well as implementation standpoint), usually proposed by "outsiders", if not come up on its own with such state wide (rather than village centric), Goanised schemes, de novo, albeit while learnin from global experience. How long can Goa toil like King Canute who tried to stop the tsunami of yore singlehandely. No one is denyin that elements of projects may have been truly harmful.(e.g. closure of Dabolim civil enclave) . Either Goa has to get projects such as Mopa or IFFI right the first time or have a civilised process of givin them the shape which suits the state and its people without appearin to pander to vested interests in the status quo. And people have to give the government a chance to iron out wrinkles in good faith (e.g. in IFFI). When will Goa epitomise good governance? Hope its sooner rather than later. Cheers.
