Vivian Wrote:
The issue of migrants derogatorily referred to as Ghattis is also raised
from time to time.
But I dare say that the economy of Goa would suffer immeasurably without the
laborers
from beyond the Ghats. There are hardly any "ganv-bhav" willing to do the
backbreaking work
performed by these migrant workers any more. Children of the laborers of
yore are educated and some have gone on to become Doctors and Engineers.
Nobody wants to do the manual labor that their parents did. Good for them.
That is progress.
Many of the so-called advanced countries in the Western world faced a
similar situation.
Soter replies: How many labourers would 8 lakh Goans require? Another 8
lakhs? That makes it one for each Goan. Hiring domestic help abroad is very
costly. So don't people clean their own toilets and maintain their own
gardens? Do we enjoy exploiting cheap labourers? I think we are over
exagerating the dependence of Goans on immigrants. The actual labourers
coming from the ghats to work in the fields and orchards come seasonally and
buzz off. They never settle here. The migrant settlers are the parasites
which are now facing racial hatred in Australia and even in UK. There is a
limit to taking local people for granted.
