As Raj Doctor walks into his new post as Director of
International Centre Goa (ICG), an assignment he took up as recently as last
month, he brings with him a wealth of experience culled over 31 years in
related fields. Yet he considers his present role a challenging one. “In the
past few years, ICG has moved away from its core objective, which is ideation,
influencing policy, conducting research, discussing national and international
issues and so forth. My biggest challenge as of now is to bring it back to
discussing serious issues as an ideation centre,” he explains, confident in the
fact that the flow will be smoother once this aspect is sorted out.
To rein this in place, there are several plans on the anvil.
“The plan is that every month we will have one big event on topics that are
more relevant to ICG’s core objectives, but this not to detract from the other
cultural activities. They are important, but are softer and do not fully
complement the objectives of ICG,” he maintains. With the focus on 12 big
events a year, six of these will be Goa-centric. “From the feedback I have
received so far, it has emerged that there are certain issues such as tourism
and waste disposal, drugs prostitution, child trafficking and environment that
are plaguing Goa. Our programmes for Goa for this year will centre on these
issues,” he adds. In addition, there are plans to make the Goa Arts and
Literary Festival an event like the Jaipur Literary Fest. But beyond this,
there are also plans for an Idea Fest, a Youth Fest, Writers residential
programme and a Swachh Bharat campaign. “These ideas are still in the thought
process and will take a while to materialise,” he clarifies. He is inspired by
the fact that Goans are passionate to do something for Goa. “There is a huge
scope in terms of expert resources in Goa. I would like to interact with NGOs
here and invite them to discuss various issues.”
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He also intends on harnessing his vast experience to bring
his plans to fruition. His tenure as Country Director, Amnesty
International-India (2004-2006), International Development Manager (overseeing
six international regions)- Green Peace (2006-2010), Unit Head of Action Aid
and World Bank Project among others, have given impetus to his mission and work
in the development and social service sector which he began as a young student
at St Xavier’s School, Ahmedabad. A Masters in architecture, a law degree and
an MBA at IIM, Bangalore have marked his academic achievements.
Behind the scenes, his enthusiasm and energy for travel has
not dampened. Having travelled to 31 countries during his time with Green
Peace, he however confesses to still enjoy meeting people at the grassroots
level where his work first began. “I love movies and I enjoy books. Before 2006
it was only non-fiction, but I have switched to fiction, but of well
established authors,” he enthuses.
To this gentleman, the journey has only just begun and there
are miles to go!
