Frederick Noronha wrote: FN, This one never fails. Every-time I get into the situation where I have restricted access to email, along comes a subject that is really interesting. Since I have just a little time, I will just deal with just the main points.
1) There are two issues here: a) The office of the NRI Commissioner b) The current incumbent As far as the office is concerned, hopefully, they have a mandate and a known agenda. This is the reason I was a little blunt the last time you asked questions as the answers would have been in the official mandate/agenda. If you do have access or can get access to the mandate/agenda, can you share this with us? The second issue, that of the current incumbent, is one that is really debatable. Every person I talk too tells me that Faleiro is arrogant. I got the same impression too when I met him. The real question here is where does one complain when the service is nowhere near where it should be. If anyone knows of the criteria on how/why the commissioner is chosen or has his contract renewed, I would be glad to get that info. As far as expenses are concerned, my experience is that the more entrenched a public official feels, the more is the tendency to waste taxpayers money. I have seen this happen in Tanzania, India and N.America. In N. America, however, I have witnessed ordinary citizens question expenditures, and get the necessary changes. This questioning has now started in some parts of India too. Lastly, as far as the corporate world is concerned, their leaders are more scrutinized (at least in N. America) than public figures. When an official makes errors, there are five people (usually their subordinates) who are willing to point out the error and rectify it. This, I guess, is the difference between getting stuck in a situation where the is little chance of change and the situation where change is quick and effective. Mervyn Lobo PS As far as Aires is concerned, if you recall, I had a long battle with him, 10 years ago, on the helmet issue for motorbike riders in Goa. At the time, I was not to impressed with him. Recently, his actions have taken a turn for the better. I am in awe in the challenges he has thrown to the current adm in Goa. Hi Mervyn, I always have the time for a good cause, one that helps us understand ourselves, and invest in our future. Expat issues are too crucial to be left to the NRI Comission/er alone, and we all have responsibilities in this debate. It is important to frame the issues properly, so that we don't go all chasing a Mickkey Mouse (as Goa and the diaspora recently collectively did, while local television and the newspapers provided us our daily dose of entertainment!) I think if we want to dismiss our responsibilities by merely flinging allegations at others (the politicians are an easy target, as some journalist was pointing out the other day... try the same with the corporate world and see what happens) then we won't get far. Let me say that I believe Mr Faleiro is far more approachable than he ever was as a minister. (But that is not saying much, because politicians in Delhi are not the most friendliest of animals, and having being a journalist with an interest in migration issues maybe my own nuisance potential is seen as higher than that of the average expat Goan.) That is not the point, though. To me the more important issue is simply this: My consternation with the Aires Rodrigues choice of targets grows with each and ever case, making me scratch my head in bewilderment and wonder on what basis his targets. Here you have a NRI Comissioner who is fairly approachable (Faleiro seldom replies to email, but his office and he have often phoned back, which is not something I know any other politician to do... since working here from the 1980s). The NRI study which Aires lambasts was, to me, an eyeopener and very insightful study into understanding Goan migration. It has a historical component and statistical component. When I requested the NRI Commission for a soft-copy of this study, I was promptly give it, and we shared it globally for free. Wastage of government funds is a given. The point isn't about selectively targeting one individual or institution and raising a hue and cry over it. Instead of just asking how much money was spent, I think it would make sense to ask what were the returns, if any, from the money spent. How does this compare with the tenure in office of previous post-holders (I'm sure Chandrakant Keni spent only small amounts, but... ), both on the expenditure and "income" side? There is another issue here. Eduardo Faleiro is sometimes responsive (maybe to some). But the tools and mechanisms being deployed to network Goans worldwide are both inadequate and inapt. The website, when I visited it sometime back, needed logins to access information. Which person in their right senses would waste time and risk privacy to log-in before accessing any website? Rather than merely focus on the money spent, I'm more concerned about what HAS BEEN achieved as contrasted to WHAT COULD BE achieved. We all know that Goa (its government, its bureaucracy and its citizens) have been slow as institution builders, at getting the job done, at taking advantage of opportunities, at building on their strengths. That is why we are not an Andhra Pradesh or a Punjab or some other more vibrant State. We spend so much of our energies targeting one another, blaming and building up non-issues, that we have very little energies left to build or create. Obvious! The NRI Commission needs critical feedback on what it is doing wrong... not just the money aspect. If it won't be open, then we need to move beyond the blame-game and show that initiatives are possible on our own, which can comlpement, supplement (and even compete with) the official bodies. Whatever our critics may say, I think Herman Carneiro's Goanet, which will be completing 16 years next month, is one such initiative. At the start of the 21st century, there are surely better ways to access people scattered across the globe. The biggest problem is that we Goans will remain traditional grumblers, while we point fingers to others (politicians, government officials, NGOs, etc) as an alibi for our own shortcomings. The NRI Commission (like every other institution, including Goanet) deserves to be critiqued. Not because we have suddenly woken up to the need to target an individual, but because it is a crucial arm of government which could indeed do something useful -- if we get it to AND if it plays its cards right. FN PS: I don't believe the roots of this debate have much to do with the Aires "contra tu" (as JC describes it) with Eduardo Faleiro at an NRI convention in Goa some years back. But then, it's tough to fathom what is the basis for the targets that Aires choses at any given point of time -- stray dogs, Manohar Parrikar (both earlier and later much admired by him!), just one priest in Ribandar, Babush Monserrate & Son, Mickky Pacheco, and Eduardo Faleiro... quite a motley crowd by any stretch of imagination, one might add!
