People's power is true democracy. And the voter is king. For the couple of
months that I have seen in Goa, and from interactions with activists and urban
villagers, Goans stand apart. Their sentiments are very strong. They have a say
in the way they are governed. And their political leaders bow to them. There
have been many instances to support this argument.
The latest is the protests of the Curchorem residents led by Ghanv Rakhon
Jagrut Manch marching to chief minister Digambar Kamat's residence in Margao
demanding the scrapping of the proposal to expand the highway that connects the
mining belt to Mormugao port to four-lane for transportation of iron ore,
mainly being exported to Japan and China. The state highway connects Sanvordem
and Curchorem in the Quepem-Sanguem talukas in Goa. The locals instead want the
government to expedite land acquisition proceedings for the proposed 19 km
Uguem-Capxem mining bypass, which can connect to the Zuari river from where the
iron ore could be transported by barges to Mormugao port.
Their reasoning is that the highway is already highly polluted and many
accidents take place on the road. They do not want mixing up of mining trucks
on the road and more traffic.
The CM immediately called a representative team of the protestors for dialogue
to his official residence in Panaji and assured the residents that the
government would pursue the bypass and keep the four-lane road expansion in
abeyance.
Such responsiveness to people's demands rarely happens in India, where chief
ministers are not accessible to their people. And most assurances are made only
to be broken much sooner than later. The Janata darshans in most state capitals
are farcical exercises just to gain some publicity.
Residents of various villages in Goa have been protesting and taking out
morchas demanding various things on the same issue and the government gives all
groups a patient hearing.
These are not the only issues on which one is basing an argument about true
democracy being practiced in Goa. There have been many occasions when people
have directly called up the chief minister or ministers concerned to get their
grievances addressed. On several occasions, the CM and the ministers have got
calls on their mobile phones even at midnight telling them that their locality
does not have power supply. The political rulers have acted on such complaints
immediately and got power restored to the localities. During a chat, Digambar
Kamat argued that there may be several problems of the people. Their children
may be studying for an exam, or somebody in the house may be ill. "How do you
expect the children to study for their exams if there are power cuts?" he said.
Do other CM's of our great nation think like that? Can people even get through
the offices of chief ministers of Maharashtra or Uttar Pradesh? Or can they
access chief ministers of Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh or Karnataka?
Goa may be a small state, but the fact that the CM is accessible to the people
on a cellphone in the middle of the night augers well for the society.
On one occasion, a state transport bus broke down past midnight between Belgaum
(in Karnataka) and Margao (in Goa). The bus passengers tried contacting
officials to get help from the middle of the dense ghat section. Luckily, one
of them had the mobile number of the Goa CM and he decided to call him for
help. The state government immediately swung into action making arrangements
for an alternative bus from Belgaum to reach the spot and pick up the harassed
passengers.
Another minister, Atanasio 'Babush' Monserrate goes out of the way to protect
his voters. There was one incidence that a driver of a cab agency told me. When
he was driving on the highway, another vehicle, a two-wheeler, crashed into the
travel agency car.
There was a crowd immediately around and arguments were on. Babush, as he is
popularly known in Goa, happened to witness the accident. The minister got off
his car, went up to the cab driver and told him that the two-wheeler rider
involved in the accident was his voter and hence he (the minister) would pay up
whatever was the cost of damage to the travel agency vehicle. "Just leave him
alone and don't trouble him. Bring me the bill and collect the money," Babush
is said to have told the driver. The bill came to Rs 21,000.
So the driver after getting the damage repaired went to Babush with the bill,
and the minister without asking any questions gave the cash. And so does
another minister Churchill Alemao, who goes to any extent in south Goa to
protect his voters.
People across communities give credit to the work done by opposition leader and
former chief minister Manohar Parrikar of the BJP in Panaji constituency.
"Parrikar does not spend money like some of the other ministers do from his
pocket, but the work he has done shows in Panaji," say most Goans. Go Goa,
people's power is supreme.
