19 Jun 2022  |   07:53am IST

Goa’s people-based institutions need protection from getting crushed

Revolution needed to give community governance of Comunidades and panchayats back to the sons of the soil; Goans did not allow the Portuguese too to trample this Gaunkari system of governance

The ‘Revolution” which forms the basis of Revolution Day, was all about fighting for the essence of ‘Goem’. The core of that revolution was the fight for giving the right of deciding on one’s destinies to the people themselves, through systems dedicated to people or to community power. What are those rights? The rights of local self-government, respecting the unique system of community governance through Comunidades and protecting what is uniquely Goan, socially, culturally, and legally, From laws to living, the core essence was Goan.

But today 76 years after the clarion call for Revolution to bring about Goa’s liberation on June 18, 1946, the Government has now sought to usurp powers to acquire lands for public projects even without the consent of the already eroding Comunidades. It also seeks to give a "grant of land" to the government for public projects. This also includes land on a long lease. It also seeks to give itself the power to dismiss comunidade committees along with the ultimate power to regularise thousands of illegal encroachments.

In 2002, the move to regularise illegal encroachments, before June 15, 2000 was made but this needed the sanction of each Comunidade’s general body.

On paper, the government has sought a discussion and feedback from the Administrators and Attorneys of Comunidades, but given the absolute control of the government on these bodies can genuine meaningful feedback happen?

While sending out this proposal, the Revenue Department has not given any timeframe for seeking the views of the Comunidade bodies and with no assurance that these views will be seriously considered.

This will cause a lot of hurt to people.

The reason is that this is not only about large tracts of village and community land being handed over for the projects of different sizes. The genuine and certain apprehension is that the nature of Goa’s countryside and villages will undergo a massive change which will affect water bodies, bunds, agriculture, and fishing.

The Comunidade system protected the land from being traded. Today, all Comunidade land has become a target for trading

When land was being productive, no one needed to and could not trade the lands. This institution today is a farce of what it was meant to be. Instead of land being protected, land is grabbed, and politicians are players in this.  

Is this the “Revolution” Goa wanted? People will surely answer, not only now but when they have to make their next electoral choices, especially in the Lok Sabha elections of 2024.

Perhaps many of the new generation MLAs and ministers haven’t really understood the benefits and the need for a Gaunkari system in Goa even today. And it is pertinent to explain this.

These systems existed even before the Portuguese came. So, they were not Portuguese-era systems, they were Goan

The Gaunkari system, which is the DNA of the socio agro-economic Comunidade system of community-based village supervision over their lands, was not a Portuguese institution. It is a uniquely Goan system that was in existence centuries- yes centuries or thousands of years- before the Portuguese came.

The challenge for the village communities (there were no towns then as we know them now) was to keep the land fertile and protect them against the entry of saline water. It is the original settlers who managed this. This system effectively controlled land use norms, occupancy rights, and revenues, so that the control of land and its resources did not allow its inhabitants to suffer.

There was zero % suffering and 100 % benefit of resources to the local people

This was the mantra of the Gaunkari system. When the Portuguese arrived, the locals did not allow this system to change and the Portuguese agreed and codified this post-1961. It was understood even by the Indian state that this unique system works well for the locals and leads to the protection of land and its resources. The following of the Comunidade system is therefore NOT a legacy of the Portuguese. It’s a Goan system and not even a so-called colonial one. This system guaranteed zero percent suffering and 100% benefit of resources to people.

Why should any ruling system, therefore, want to tamper with that unless it is not interested in the welfare of the people?

 The same holds true for the postponement of the panchayat elections and the appointment of administrators for three months on the eve of the completion of the five-year term of all panchayats today- June 19. What happens to the projects which the panchayats have opposed for the welfare of the village? What happens to so many village-level resolutions taken e.g. on the western bypass on stilts in Benaulim, on not allowing double-tracking through the coastal villages of South Goa, etc. The three officers who will be handling the affairs of panchayats, - the panchayat secretary, the administrator, and the Block Development Officer are all government appointees.

On Revolution Day, does it feel nice that there is fear and suspicion among the people as to the decisions the government officers will take that might affect the fate of their villages? 

In Quelossim the panchayat had vehemently opposed the use of the village land for a contentious “Mini India project. That project has now sought to be been diverted to Chicolna, which has been met with similar opposition. It is with cases like this that people fear that the government-appointed village bosses, will clear so-called “roadblocks” to anti-people projects, by bulldozing  the people’s will.,

Is this the “Revolution” Goans fought for?

Even as we write this, thousands of Goans are getting cheated of their land, grabbed and robbed unfortunately by a coterie that also includes fellow Goans. The massive scam of illegal land transfers and sale have made Goans trespassers on their own land and victims of large-scale loot.

Herald’s reportage and the people’s will have made the government take a credible decision to constitute a Special Investigation Team of the Crime Branch. The government should investigate honestly and clean the system. If it does Goans will salute them, but if this misery is compounded, the curse of Goans will remain forever.

The only thought that we need to take back on this great day is that we are proud Goans and there is a limit to how the basic nature of our land and its identity can be threatened to make our lives poorer and the lives of the powerful richer.

We are sure that this government will understand this and course correct, given the extent of the mandate it has and would like to keep.


IDhar UDHAR

Idhar Udhar