Non-Goans settled or visiting Goa might be wondering, as to why Goans are looking for protection. Seeking special status was one way of requesting protection of the Goan way of life, but now that Goans have surrendered the entire command and control to politicians of Delhi, the idea of special status seems too far-fetched for the moment. Meantime, there is a severe onslaught on everything Goan and if this continues at the pace it is, than in the years to come there will be nothing worthwhile left to seek special status.
If the Goan way of life has to survive, then we need to find ways and means to arrest the mass exodus taking place in front of our eyes. One way to arrest it would be to make Goans majority stake holders in all businesses operating from Goa. You can’t clandestinely export Goans out of Goa, replace them with other individuals, take credit for thrusting Goan culture on these newcomers and then claim you are flying the Goan flag high. Works at best as optical illusion, but does not address the real problem Goa confronts at the moment.
Just so you know, Kuwait is a sovereign country and cannot be compared to Goa which happens to be a state of India, but if an expatriate wants to start a business in Kuwait, the law requires that you have a local partner with majority interest in the business. This gives the local partner absolute control over the company and he can even go to the extent of closing it if he wishes. Add to that the local partner need not contribute a dinar as investment or participate financially into the business. However, in special cases 100% foreign ownership businesses are allowed, but you need to make a strong presentation to the Investment Authority that the business will benefit the Kuwaiti economy.
Many might argue that Kuwait might be an extreme case of protection, but the government does the best it can, to protect the locals. Remember Kuwait owns 8% of the world oil reserves which technically belongs to each and every Kuwaiti. The entire economy runs on the oil machine. Involving the locals in having sizeable business stakes, as part of the rule, to operate on the land is the least the government can do to empower its citizens financially.
At the moment tourism in Goa is arguably the most lucrative business this land has to offer. Technically Goa belongs to all Goans, and if the law does not find a way to include Goans to be part of the financial returns, it means time has come to get rid of all politicians, without exceptions, that have been running the show so far. Corrupt, non-corrupt, educated, uneducated, all need to be shown the door through the ballot and start afresh with new sincere thinking and honest people. Unfortunately, majority Goans are yet to realise that they have been taken for a ride especially the Generation Past, because they fall for the same old tricks politicians use to reinvent themselves. The only ray of hope though, is the Generation Next Goans that refuse to suck up to politicians and believe that the system is good enough to take care of their affairs.
Free markets are the ideal solution, but it works when there is a level playing field. At the moment the scales are tilted against Goans because over the years we were not taught to fend for ourselves, it is this reason that we need some sort of protection to balance the equation now. Goa should have debated this issue in 1961, on how Goa and Goans should be ‘India Ready’, but we chose ineffective people to represent us and worse the Goan voters kept doing the same mistake of electing the same people despite their dismal performance.
Like it or not, Goans are going to get trampled upon, check out the amount of non-Goan real estate developers with deep pockets changing the rules of competition for the Goan developer. Does not mean the Goan developer will not survive, while some might thrive, many will have no option but to fold up, because the new entrants seem to have got a red carpet to walk over local businesses.
Even the street food is not Goan anymore, we allowed too many ‘bhel puri’ booths in some of the iconic tourist areas of Goa and today they outnumber the Goan street food joints. There has to be a limit, we must sound the tourist that when they come to Goa they better be prepared to taste the world class Goan cuisine and not to waste their time eating ‘bhel puri’. That is the basic premise when people take vacations, to taste new local cuisine then to eat rather than eat the same thing available back home. The new Generation Next Goans are willing to give Goan food a shot provided they are assigned real estate where the real tourist action is.
Most politicians have made their career by thrusting Konkani language on students. However, they hardly utter a word when it comes to Punjabi music being blasted at most destination weddings, so what if these weddings take place in starred hotels, these hotels are on Goan soil. Why can’t we have a rule that 50% music has to be Konkani and the original singer receives a royalty every time their song is played? Imagine Lorna and Chris Perry family if they still hold the rights for their songs, would be instant millionaires, but they becoming millionaires would be detrimental to those who still approach Lorna to play in our backyard for peanuts.
For too long we conspired Goans to earn peanuts, the more the talent the worse the story. It is this monkey business that has kept Goans despite their talent, way behind financially compared to Indians and till parity is restored some sort of protection for Goans has to be worked upon.
(Plastino D’Costa is a
business consultant)
