PEOPLE'S OPPOSITION - A WAKE UP CALL FOR GOA'S POLITICAL LEADERSHIP
When a mother is stripped of her dignity, her charms crudely paraded and
turned into a saleable commodity, then, it is the bounden duty of every true
son and daughter of the family to join forces and pull together to protect
the beleaguered mother's honour.
Goa is our motherland. And Goans are a family bound together with ties that
stem from a common identity, culture, history and sense of community. That
is why Chief Secretary J.P. Singh feels that we "over participate in
democracy", while Governor Jamir patronizingly advises us to "shed our
negative mindset".
The latest to unleash a barrage on this front has been Chief Minister
Digambar Kamat, who articulated his opinion that "there is no point in
simply opposing everything. It is high time that Goans made up their mind on
whether they want industries to set shop in the state".
On top of the Government's wish list apparently, is a compliant, docile
public, who will unprotestingly accept the "sarkar's" unilateral vision of
development. That the people have said yes to industry has been made
abundantly clear by now, through their sacrifices in giving up their
precious land, acquired by the Government of Goa for the various industrial
estates that have sprouted like festering sores all over the state. Today
decades down the line, painful reality has hit home, and a once trusting
populace has realized that the faith has been betrayed time and again by the
custodians of the collective assets of the community. Industries have been
permitted offering no desirable employment to Goans. All that the locals
have received is rampant, unchecked pollution of the environment, rapacious
plundering of community resources like groundwater, because a government
cannot deliver on its promises of water supply to these establishments. And
to add to the distress of the people is an overwhelming change in the
demographic profile and the inevitable swamping of the local culture in the
villages. Unfulfilled promises and unrealized aspirations are all that this
development has brought the people.
The constant opposition to development projects in Goa should serve as a
wake up call to the political leadership of the state, because it points to
the fact that elected Governments are no longer trusted by the people whose
representatives they claim to be. The lack of transparency when initiating
and implementing projects certainly provides ample scope for suspicion. And
the administration seems to have cold bloodedly abdicated its responsibility
of carrying the people along with it in its thought processes. When
democracy degenerates into mere tokenism, then a government loses its moral
legitimacy in the eyes of the people.
It was only the people's protest that saved Goa from destruction through the
Regional Plan 2011. Again, in the case of SEZs, it is only when the people
came out in the streets to assert their collective will that the Chief
Minister cared to sit up and make a study of the issue and its implications
for Goa and Goans. Even today, an insensitive and unresponsive Government
has not cared to institute an independent, objective inquiry and address the
concerns of the citizens who have filed an FIR against GIDC Directors, who
allegedly squandered public assets entrusted to their care and flouted rules
and procedures. With such a blatant lack of accountability in the
administration, and corruption levels at an all time high, trust in the
Government and public servants has sunk to such abysmal levels, that any
project or policy decision is looked upon with suspicion and mistrust by the
people.
Development projects must be envisaged keeping in mind the local
environment, the social cost to the people and the cost benefit ratio that
will accrue. What is the people's concept of development? What is the price
they are prepared to pay for it? Is the bottom line only economics and
money? Are the people prepared to sacrifice their identity, culture,
community spirit, indeed, their way of life for the Government's idea of
development? Can the Government of the day advocate and promote development
that will result in our future generations not being able to afford a tiny
corner of land to call their own? But most of all, do any of the political
parties have a long term vision for Goa that will stand up to the scrutiny
of the people? For we are told time and again, that development is for the
benefit of the people. Elected representatives can no longer presume that
they and they alone know what's best for the people and the place. Because
the Portuguese left Goa some 46 years ago.
Diana Pinto
