<As thoughtful, concerned citizens in Goa look around themand organise to resist the onslaught, there are many lessons to belearnt from the bitter experiences of the rest of the world.... they are discovering that we are allresponsible -- locals, outsiders, migrants, Goans. And equally, weare none of us responsible, because what each one is doing is onlyfollowing received wisdom and treading a path touted as the onlydesirable way to go...There are unfortunately no easy solutions to this conundrum. Whatis needed is a thorough rethinking of the entire developmentprocess, and a major shift away from established models. Pro-people, bottom-up development, following a transparentconsultative process; a major shift away from consumerism; arejection of neoliberalism and globalisation -- these are the onlychoices we have if we are to halt our headlong rush towards disaster...In case the diagnosis sounds pessimistic, or the solution apipe-dream, let us remember that all is not lost. In Goa we areuniquely placed to tread a different path, and give the lead toothers...Our local self-government is relatively healthy..It is people's power that we need to strengthen. And, of course,we have to learn to make the right choices,** however much contraryto received wisdom they may appear.**>
So the different road Goa is being asked to follow is by no means an easy one. That road has to be mapped out much more minutely than the article has attempted. It cannot be intuitively grasped. There are limits to the powers of local self government which have been lauded by the author. What can the villagers of Dabolim do on their own to improve the state's aviation scene? How should the villagers of Mopa interact with their counterparts in Dabolim to help matters for the long term future of Goa? How should the 100 villages all along the 100 km coastal belt organise to handle the garbage being accumulated and haphazardly discarded every day runing the state's natural beauty? All this requires a state government which is equally strong -- and smart (in the best sense of the word)-- and 'top down' as far as leadership is concerned. But in Goa it is yet to figure out how to remain stable for more than 15 days or even 15 weeks. There should be a follow up article about the kind of government needed at all levels for treading the new road.
