There is no greater problem that Goa should contend with in the next 50 years
other than that of migration. The population of India is set to reach 2 billion
in the next twenty years. In the last 20 years, India has become poorer than it
was, and more than 60% of its population now live below the poverty line. The
only reason Goa and Kerala enjoy a better standard of living and per capita
income is because of its population. All that will change if migration
continues at the rate it is now.
There is no greater fallacy than that migrants contribute to the economy. When
you counter their productivity with the cost of their upkeep and the strain on
the infrastructure, their contribution is negligible except to those employers
who employ them at paltry sums of money. Infact the rest of the citizens of a
state end up subsidizing the building and other related industry.
There is no need to conduct an expensive study to "study" the problem. The
problem is obvious, it has been studied by many experts and it is a known fact
that the migration of people from rural areas to urban areas is what causes
urban poverty, unless cities are wealthy enough or are showing a growth rate
adequate enough and have the vision to generate the infrastructure needed.
India has never been able to do this in any of its states, and Goa is not going
to be an exception.
If Goans really want to Save Goa, then the first step is to halt migration. The
answer to low population birth-rates and a low labour supply market is not
migration, it is mechanization.
I am against people who become victims of violence, such as hapless migrants in
Bombay at the receiving end of Bal Thackeray's wrath. But to prevent this from
happening in Goa, it is better to act now. Human beings are animals of instinct
and they will become violent when the strain on available resources becomes
unbearable.
Best,
selma
