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Antonio made an informative post when he talked about remittances from Bombay
prior to liberation. Let me add to that.
These remittances of the British India Rupee not only bolstered the Goan
economy but they also made up for the perpetual shortage of Goan Rupee in
circulation. In 1942 Governor Cabral decided to make BI Rupee illegal tender in
Goa. This caused a dire shortage of cash. Shop-keepers could no long pay taxes.
They gathered infront of the Secretariat and begged the Governor to rethink.
By 1954, the Financial times listed remittances from overseas Goans as crucial
to making good Goa's trade deficit.
By the 1990s, a strange thing happened in Goa. There was a skewed Investment to
Savings ratio. Foreign exchange remittances had bolstered savings but there
weren't enough enterprising businessmen in Goa to take advantage of this
situation and invest in Goa.
Here is an extract from something I am writing at the moment:
"Scarcity had become so dire, by 1943, people started dying of starvation. An
entire family in Ponda, being unable to go on, was rumoured to have committed
suicide. The government’s response was to crack its authoritarian whip and
tighten its controls even further. The Governor instituted draconian penalties
for hoarders. A shop-keeper caught hoarding rice had his stock confiscated
besides being fined Rs 45 per sack. "
People who left Goa did not abandon Goa. They were fighting to keep body and
soul together. Influenza, typhoid, water and food shortages ravaged Goa in the
early half of the 19th century. What were people to do?
Those that left did not suddenly discover Eden. Their lives abroad were riddled
with the prejudice of racism and angst of separation from their families. They
rubbed two sticks together to make a fire and the third stick they sent back to
Goa, to their families. To my mind,it is only in the eighties with the
world-wide boom, that Goans began leading prosperous lives.
Someone said to me the other day, Goans are a community least interested in
their history. I think it's true. If we don't know our history, we cannot
respect those that contributed to it. Somewhere in Goa there should be a plaque
to the Unknown Goan who toiled Overseas. Unfortunately, today we are told that
we have no place in Goa or a say in its matters.
Best,
selma
