Re: [Goanet] G'bye Goa - Migrants, necessary "evil": HERALD(Goa), Oct. 11, 2009
* G * O * A * N * E * T C * L * A * S * S * I * F * I * E * D * S * Planning to get married in Goa? www.weddingsetcgoa.com Making your 'dream wedding' possible Dear R. Cabral, I was on facts (on the current migrant situation in Goa), not on "viewpoints" you say. Nor on hypothesis like you propound (on why, in face of a rapidly depleting Goan workforce in Goa resulting from emigration, was mechanzation not resorted to as was done in Europe.) Do you disagree with the facts listed by me (summarized towards the end with: "Now revert to the scenario of what would happen to Goa if some bright day all migrants could be chased out Goa. Goa would grind to an agonizing halt the next morning!") ?? In theory, you do have a valid hypothesis asking why mechanization resorted to in Europe was not replicated in Goa. But in practice? Are economic factors like economies-of-scale in Europe then, and Goa now, anywhere near comparison? Let's be realistic. Let nothing of what I say above (or have said in my piece you refer to) give you the idea that I am anywhere near being happy about where Goa is headed for at this point of time in history. (Thought the title of the series, "Goodbye Goa," would be a loud enough hint on that!) Migrants sure are part of the problem, but I don't wear horse blinkers to see them as entirely to blame. It's easy to find scapegoats, especially when they come from India's poorest and least educated. If they were not poor and were educated, either they wouldn't be here, or if they chose to settle in Goa like some Dilliwallahs, they would have had flush latrines and houses proper, instead of sitting in the open, messing Goa, and raising an unholy, unhygienic stink. But then, blame them? How come they continue in an alien land, getting Ration Cards, Election Cards, free civic amenities in illegal shanty colonies? The blame, as I perceive, lies elsewhere. Let me come to that over the next three Sundays ending November 1. -v - Original Message - From: "R. Cabral" To: "Goanet" Sent: Tuesday, October 13, 2009 7:15 PM Subject: Re: [Goanet] G'bye Goa - Migrants, necessary "evil": HERALD(Goa),Oct. 11, 2009 I beg to differ from Valmiki and all those who subscribe to this viewpoint. There is a saying in Konkani/Konknni "mel'lea fattlean konn morona". Man by nature always seeks the easy way out. Because manpower was easily available this is waht happened. How and why did mechanization take place in Europe? If we had put certain controls in place things would not have come to such a pass. Once when Bal Thackeray had visited Goa he had suggested that Goa start issuing I-cards. Goans do not like blue collar jobs. Why? Is it because the others like them they take up those jobs? and what about all those white collar jobs that have been cornered by the non-Goans? And now even the essential qualification of Konkani/Konknni has been waived. Is anybody protesting? Goans dont know to protest. If at all there have been protests and morchas and demonstrations they have been mostly led by outsiders. Just look at the different organizations and associations. Most of them are headed by outsiders. We are not cut out for the job. One reason is the size of Goa. Somebody in canacona is invariably related to somebody in Pernem. We dont want to hurt anybody. This is Portuguese legacy. Well, this is all crap that I'm talking about because the clock cannot be turned back. What cannot be cured has to be endured but it sure hurts. R. Cabral
Re: [Goanet] G'bye Goa - Migrants, necessary "evil": HERALD(Goa), Oct. 11, 2009
* G * O * A * N * E * T C * L * A * S * S * I * F * I * E * D * S * Planning to get married in Goa? www.weddingsetcgoa.com Making your 'dream wedding' possible >We curse them, but what would Goa be without them? Let's briefly look at who >powers >Goa's workforce today. I beg to differ from Valmiki and all those who subscribe to this viewpoint. There is a saying in Konkani/Konknni "mel'lea fattlean konn morona". Man by nature always seeks the easy way out. Because manpower was easily available this is waht happened. How and why did mechanization take place in Europe? If we had put certain controls in place things would not have come to such a pass. Once when Bal Thackeray had visited Goa he had suggested that Goa start issuing I-cards. Goans do not like blue collar jobs. Why? Is it because the others like them they take up those jobs? and what about all those white collar jobs that have been cornered by the non-Goans? And now even the essential qualification of Konkani/Konknni has been waived. Is anybody protesting? Goans dont know to protest. If at all there have been protests and morchas and demonstrations they have been mostly led by outsiders. Just look at the different organizations and associations. Most of them are headed by outsiders. We are not cut out for the job. One reason is the size of Goa. Somebody in canacona is invariably related to somebody in Pernem. We dont want to hurt anybody. This is Portuguese legacy. Well, this is all crap that I'm talking about because the clock cannot be turned back. What cannot be cured has to be endured but it sure hurts. R. Cabral
[Goanet] G'bye Goa - Migrants, necessary "evil": HERALD(Goa), Oct. 11, 2009
* G * O * A * N * E * T C * L * A * S * S * I * F * I * E * D * S * Planning to get married in Goa? www.weddingsetcgoa.com Making your 'dream wedding' possible G'BYE GOA: MIGRANTS, NECESSARY "EVIL" By Valmiki Faleiro Migrants abound Goa. Most who in-migrated between the 1960s and 1980s are well assimilated, speak the local language, and consider themselves as Goan as any other. They now own accommodation, ranging from a comfy house/flat to a shanty in a slum. Even if they had a choice, most would never return home. For them, Goa is home. We curse them, but what would Goa be without them? Let's briefly look at who powers Goa's workforce today. In manufacturing, mining, civil construction, tourism, transport, fishing, services including retail vending, and the tertiary sector, it is migrants, migrants and migrants all the way . Perhaps, 80 per cent of the way. We Goans chase only white-collar jobs. And clamour that migrants be chased away. In manufacturing, save good paymasters like Zuari, Syngenta, MRF and Nestle, bulk of manpower particularly in the Industrial Estates is migrant. Goans have developed a squinted view towards blue-collar jobs. In mining, both legal and illegal, over 50% of the workforce is migrant. Ditto with truck- tipper drivers/cleaners who shift the ore to river-loading points. Barges that take the ore to port, however, are largely manned by Goans, perhaps because diesel pilferage pays them more than their wages. (Only a cynic like me would say that chasing away migrants from mines would be a good idea. That way, Goa's current environmental destruction would be reduced by half.) Construction: Where would Goa be without migrants? From unskilled labour to all kinds of skilled/specialized workmen, Goa depends almost entirely on migrants. The only job a few Goans, mainly from the OBC community, still do is lay concrete, where wages are twice the daily average. They are now being edged out by ready-mix concrete factories, which employ migrants. Migrants today do the traditional OBC road asphalting work. We sure abhor malaria-spreading, night-thieving workers at construction sites, but try building a house exclusively with Goan labour! Tourism: Go around Goa's coastal villages, from Pernem to Palolem, from small shacks to big hotels. Who constitutes the bulk of waiters and kitchen staff? A tiny place like Palolem seasonally employs around 2,500 Nepalis alone, not to count experienced hands from touristy places like Himachal and Kerala, and of course the rest of India. Today, cooks from Orissa to Bengal dish out their version of "authentic Goan Xacuti" to the world. Imagine the fate of Assado and Sarapatel if they handled beef and pork. Transport: The role of Goans in ferrying the public in private buses is that of mere owners. Most I know contract their vehicles to migrant drivers/conductors for a fixed daily return. That's one of the reasons why recklessness has increased on Goa's roads. Read names of drivers charged by police as responsible for road fatalities and you will get a better idea. Fisheries: Ask any trawler-owner what his fate would be if the boat crew didn't come from elsewhere in India. Even a few days' delay in their arrival at the start of the fishing season around "Nariyal Poornima" would mean a huge difference to his entire year's fortunes. Because the first three or four weeks of August yield bumper crops of the prized "Solar shrimp." Trawler-owners are so dependant on migrant labour that they pay substantial advances to crew at the end of season, and lose a lot when crewmembers do not show up. And consumers pay for it at Goa's fish markets. The story is not much different in the service and tertiary sectors. Almost every technician (or "Service Engineer" as euphemistically called in this age) that we rely on is invariably a migrant. Now revert to the scenario of what would happen to Goa if some bright day all migrants could be chased out Goa. Goa would grind to an agonizing halt the next morning! We cannot blame migrants. If Goa is changing, the cause is not them. It lies elsewhere. Let's come to that next Sunday. P.S: Laxmikant Shetgaonkar has earned his niche in history. His film, whose title translates to "Man Across the Bridge," won an international award, the first-ever film in Goa's native tongue to earn such honours. A filmmaker of the stature of Shekhar Kapur had, it seems, prophesized last year that Shetgaonkar had it in him. (ENDS) The above article appeared in the Herald, Goa, edition of October 11, 2009
