GULF-GOANS e-NEWSLETTER (since 1994)
Reflections on the Eve of Republic Day
While we have made great progress since we became a republic, a lot
remains to be done, says JOE D’SOUZA
Tomorrow we celebrate India’s 60th Republic day. Goa had to wait more
eleven years more to be liberated from erstwhile Portuguese colonial
regime on 19 December, 1961. Although Goa joined the national
mainstream, losing nearly two important 5 year plans, Goans did not
falter or lag far behind the rest of the country.
By declaring India a Republic on 26 January 1950, we gave ourselves a
new Constitution which would make India a sovereign democratic republic.
We became a nation assuring its citizens justice, equality and liberty,
with entire powers bestowed upon the people of the country, who in turn
would choose amongst themselves their own representatives to govern the
country, in a federal structure. Later we structured our country into
states, under the linguistic formula, giving powers to the state
legislature, thus allowing the process of electing a state government
for local governance from amongst the legislators who are elected at the
regional level, with the Chief Minister assisted by his council of
ministers. Similarly we elect members of the Parliament at the national
level, who in turn allow for the constitution of the central government
with the Prime Minister as the head, assisted by his council of
ministers under the overall patronage of the President of the country,
who is elected by all the elected members of the state assemblies as
well as members of both the houses of the parliament, from amongst those
candidates standing for the post of President of the country.
It is therefore a matter of great pride that all those in governance at
the state level as well as the centre are from amongst the people of the
country. However in spite of knowing how important our vote is in
elections, over 50 per cent of our people often do not perform their
sacred duty of casting their vote during election time, thus belittling
the greatness of our democratic process. In the year 1976 we amended our
constitution and added the words ‘socialist’ and ‘secular’.
During the era of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, India embarked on massive
infrastructural development schemes, centered on boosting our
agriculture productivity. Huge dams, canals and other irrigational
schemes were announced and implemented. Yet for many years, all through
the Nehru days regime and also during the premiership of the late Mrs
Indira Gandhi, we saw starvation deaths due to famines, especially
around Bihar. Today, India has bounced into food surpluses, through its
green and white revolutions. Not that we are free today of farmer
suicides, starvation and, deaths due to exploitation by middlemen and
from the vagaries of weather. Nevertheless, India today is fairly food
sufficient, with adequate buffer stocks lying in Food Corporation
godowns, enough to tide over a situation of a famine. However we still
need to check hoarding by middlemen and control inflation.
India has come a long way since it declared itself as a Republic. We can
boast of our education, which has produced internationally recognized
space scientists, software engineers and doctors renowned in every field
of medicine. Slowly and steadily India is marching from being a poor
developing country with a begging bowl to be a superpower of today with
a global reach. India recently played an important role in the
discussions regarding climate change in Copenhagen at an international
summit on global warming.
Indian entrepreneurs have done wonders to establish their industrial
empires in other countries, acquiring thus the status of being
multinationals. But looking at the other side of the coin, we in India
often wonder if the rich in own country have done enough to usher in
social justice with a sense of corporate social responsibility to weed
out economic disparity, acute poverty and raging hunger amongst over 300
million poor people of our country. We see all around us economic
disparity growing alarmingly, thus allowing 10 per cent of our
population, in charge of over 70 per cent of the nation’s wealth and
nearly 50 per cent of our population barely sustaining themselves on a
daily basis. Though we pride ourselves on having sent an unmanned
mission on the moon’s orbit, we have to hang our heads in shame that
each day millions of our countrymen have to sleep without a meal and
also without a roof over their heads.
Yes, we are a free country but should we not work to stop exploitation
and enslavement of our fellow human beings? Or should we remain quiet,
callous and unconcerned about the rampant acts of corruption, nepotism,
discrimination, exploitation and goondaism growing in our society? No
doubt we have a long, long way to go before actually realizing
Gandhiji’s dream of a prosperous and just Indian nation.
We in India often preach high ideals and conveniently forget that it is
we who have to practice what we preach. We denounce child labour but do
absolutely nothing to economically empower the poor children to go to
school. We condemn abortions but we do not consider it a social
responsibility to take care of the child born to poor and infirm Indian
parents. We want our house to remain clean yet find it appropriate that
our garbage should land in our neighbour’s property or street corners.
We claim that we Goa is a a state with a high capita income and high
literacy. Sadly, however, rapes, murders, burglaries, suicides, road
accidents seem to be growing alarmingly. We have the dubious distinction
of promoting alcoholic bars, massage parlours, casinos, discos and
raves; leading to the degeneration of our society. We fail to realize
that Goa would soon suffer the most due to the adverse impact of climate
change and global warming being a coastal state prone to floods,
tsunamis and coastal erosion.
Goa is today seen as a destination of the drug mafia, international
prostitution; high-fly gamblers, chronic alcoholics, paedophiles and
real estate sharks, all out to sell Goa and Goans for a song.
Unscientific and illegal mining has ruined our agriculture, forests,
water resources; this has adversely affected our health and made Goa
prone towards floods, droughts, and earthquakes. Our lopsided tourism
policy has led to degradation of our moral values, enhanced
prostitution, increased gambling, generated alcoholics and only menial
jobs for locals. Value-added industrial activity and its growth is today
a distant dream for Goa.
It is time for those of us who still continue to live in our state and
our country to reflect upon the sacrifices of the founding fathers of
our Constitution as well as those who have toiled hard to keep the land
green and wonderful. Now we must keep our forests rich in biodiversity,
our rivers as a source of bio-productivity and our environment tranquil
and salubrious. We also have to protect our heritage and preserve our
traditional culture.
Let us on this auspicious day pledge to protect our land, our value
systems and our traditional customs, preserve our hills and prevent our
rivers from being polluted by improving our agricultural productivity,
fighting corruption, exploitation, and destruction of our ecosystem by
mega projects, polluting industries and the menace of social evil. We
must ensure the future of Goa.
http://www.oheraldo.in/newscategory/Middle/274
Largest Circulated English Daily of Goa - Monday, January 25, 2010
