The Big Goan - Goa Holiday Blog

The days of Goa appear to be numbered. And it has nothing to do with the new "number plate" resentments. Instead, a new law awaits Goa and most importantly, Goan villages which threatens to change the Goan demography, Goan landscape, Goan beauty, Goan environment and the Goan way of life - forever. With disastrous implications.

The amendment to the Panchayati raj act 2009, which was unanimously passed by the ruling Congress woven coalition in the Goa assembly this month is yet another attempt to hoodwink Goans and foist on us the gargantuan plans of concrete jungles designed to satisfy the potbellies of real estate barons, politicians from Goa and elsewhere, bureaucrats and an increasingly alarming migrant workforce.

The way the bill itself was passed is pretty disgusting. The opposition party, the BJP which cries hoarse at every flimsy opportunity aimed at nailing the ruling combination chose to have a token protest, lest it not be said that they were supporting the bill. Simply exposes how powerful the builders lobby in Goa is.

Manohar Parrikar and his band of boys, instead of a thorough dressing down of the bill and the government, decided to concentrate on the purview of the miniscule issue of the panchayat secretary's boss and his creator of commands as being ambiguous in the bill. With the answers not fulfilling his satisfaction, the BJP stalwart decides to stage a walkout with his men, which facilitates the bill to have a safe passage .While leaving he makes sure that the world hears his words of protest as he shouted " we will not be a party to this bill". There could not be a better tiatr, could there?

However in doing the above, the wily politician may believe that he satisfied everyone while probably helping himself to a good laugh besides other things. One, he ensured that the bill was passed without much of his protests which should satisfy all stakeholders in the passing of the bill. Two he lived upto the reputation of opposition parties (and his own) to atleast oppose a bill come what may. Third he ensured that the general Goan public opposed to the bill, find it difficult to club him and his party with the supporters of the bill. However while he may have fooled some Goans, most will surely see through his actions and I am sure those voices will be heard sooner than later.

Can you imagine a law intended to deny Goans their right to speak against the rampant development of land with concrete jungles emerging all over? All powers vested in the bureaucracy of Goa? In short all powers vesting in the ministers, their accomplices, their henchmen and their greedy wolves who can decide what, how ,when and why your village needs thousands and lakhs of new inhabitants with more garbage, rationed water, more floods, lesser greenery, more migrants and more crime?

With such a dangerous situation on hand, our opposition party has lived up to their reputation of opposing trivial issues and ignoring the more important ones. While the whole of Goa and every panchayat in the state is gearing up for an agitation against the draconian bill, our opposition party has chosen to shift focus and agitate against some inconsequential , pedestrian issues such as the Shimnit Utsch number plates . Are vehicle number plates more important to the welfare of Goa? Or has Shimnit failed to satisfy the aspirations of our political class across the whole spectrum which the builders lobby may have smartly managed?

As if we didn't know!

Just when you take a breather about a certain issue folding its back on the devastation of Goa, there comes another. Goa's political abyss which has been left with the littlest of credibleness is desperate to prove that it has got much in its armour to take itself into the bottom of a hole. But it seems that the bottom is an unending pit.

The promulgation of the ordinance to save a portion of a hotel in Dona Paula is just another case where our law makers are showing their prowess in bending the law to suit their fancies. It is a matter of great shame for Goans that we have elected such leaders who have no qualms about turning jet black into crystal white. Overnight.

The disgracefulness with which this act was executed with scant respect to the orders of the honourable Supreme court shows the sense of disregard for the rule of law. The government made a mockery of the 17 long years legal battle waged by the Goa foundation in public interest which was recently disposed of by the apex court in favour of the Goa foundation.

The twist and churn of the law by promulgating an ordinance the effect of which comes retrospectively, is therefore a travesty of justice for the common man of Goa. It only proves that the high and mighty in Goa are above the law of the land. And it is unbelievable that the government of Goa helps to inculcate this sense of belief.

The befuddling part is that none of the 40 legislators actually opposed this ordinance vehemently. There were some feeble voices from the opposition party grumbling a bit, lest it not be said that they didn't resent the move. However their wanton and lazy mumbles were soon lost in the ink of the governor who whetted the ordinance with his most desired autograph.

The issue wasn't without an interesting sideshow which provided the government the much needed fodder to substantiate such a shameful act. A strange " staff welfare association" of the hotel was constituted with claims that the hotel was ready to divest them of their jobs, should the demolition come through. It seems all labour laws and all employee rights are tied down to pillars and structures of hotels which have been built through questionable means and which are ordered to be axed by the highest court of the land. Many would wonder if the government fell for the bait of the 650 odd employee jobs.  Rather in this case, it seems that the government was itself the bait, the rod, the hook, the sinker and the catch.

The effect of this ordinance is so loud and deafening that it has hit many ear drums. Goa is fortunate to have many citizen organizations such as the GBA( Goa Bachao Abhiyan) and the GGRM ( Ganv ghor rakhon Manch) as also "the council for social justice and peace" among many others, who have sprung up to checkmate every dirty move that our politicians have on their mind to deface Goa. In times like these, they are our only hope. Our only pride. Our only strength. If not for them Goa would have been battered long ago. With them in charge, all that we need to do as Goans is support them in every way possible. We owe it to ourselves.

The next few weeks, months and the rest of the year will be quite interesting. With Lok sabha elections in April-May 2009, the ordinance will be coming into effect only after the next assembly session in Goa meets up and ratifies it. Will all the 40 legislators support it? Will even 20 of them support it? Why will they support it? Will their conscience be so hollow and deprived? Will the supreme court of India be a silent spectator to the subversion of its order?

This ordinance has the potential to open a can of worms. Hopefully it will.

We have heard of jumping jacks but there is no one to beat the Goan politician. He is, quick and extremely swift. This is an art he wasn’t born with. His trade has made him learn and master it. He knows that the time he has to stay in the “kodel” is not specified. His adversaries are both his “foes in the ruling party and his friends in the opposition”. He trusts no one.

His trips abroad are few nowadays and far between. He has observed that when he is abroad the sea back in goa can be rough and his “Kodel” could be washed away even before he catches his return flight back home. He does not have trusted lieutenants in the ministry as he cannot rely on any one. His friends turned foes who are now friends again could change colours anytime.

Because of lack of clarity on the duration of his tenure in the Goan assembly, the Goan politician cum minister is very hardworking. He is working overtime to ensure that he uses whatever resources are available in his portfolio to pass projects for the requisite compensation. He makes new projects to ensure that the portfolio is not underutilized. Her wants to ensure that whatever time he is holding the particular portfolio he must milk it to the maximum. His village constituency sees extra bridges where they were never needed, extra foundation stones and extra garbage. All these extras are his justification to introduce megaprojects. His constituency sees an unusual rise in construction activities and mega projects are invited by him with open arms. He is not concerned about the future. He thinks he is elected for today and he must make the most of it. He calls it development. Any opposition to his activites and he is furious and calls all those activists as anti-Goan. Development is the key he screams.

One day his government has a fall. Now he twiddles with his thumbs, ruing all the pending projects which he nurtured and whose benefits would accrue to his successor. He tries to instigate activists and urges them to protest against mega projects and says such things are anti-Goan.

This is our Goan politician. He does not care about you and me. All that he cares about is himself. According to him if he goes to love goa and its environment he stands to lose and what guarantee is there that his successor will follow such a sincere path? So he says make merry when the going is good. Goa can go to the gutter.

There is no one to ask him, No ombudsman to arbitrate. No regulator to rein in his style of working. No freedom fighter to question his contribution to the decay of Goa. He is a commodity. Gets bought and sold at his own will. His constituents are expected to migrate their good opinion over to the party he currently holds. They have no choice.

And to think of it, he holds all kinds of portfolios such as education, health, home, power, weights and measures, sports, tourism, public works(PWD), water resources, industries, labour, transport etc. The cruel joke is he murders the law of his portfolio and still holds the portfolio like its ambassador. He may abuse all that his portfolio stands for. But you can do nothing against him. He is your Goa Minister.

He is Goa’s tragedy! He is our liability! And we thought we got him up there in Porvorim to get us out of a mess. Instead he is leading us to the gutter. On the way he will get off and keep us on our own.

We need to send him to the gutter instead. Remember the next time you vote. You are entitled to go to the voting booth and say that you don’t want to vote for anyone and if such no-votes exceed a specific percentage, the election commission is expected to nullify that election process.

It is time we acted. We owe it to ourselves

TheBigGoan.