Many issues were debated on Sunday, July
30, 2017, which marked the day for gram sabhas being held across some parts of
Goa. The key points to be noted in all of this though were that many of the
decisions being taken were definitely more youth centric, and many of the
people involved were youth members. In fact, one of the major points to be
noted here, is the constantly increasing level of youthful involvement in
issues unfolding around them on a local level.
In the village of Loutolim, one of the key
issues that was raised was the installation of a cell phone tower, which had
been debated for a while. The matter was one that was particularly irksome to the
younger generation. On this matter, Oscar de Sequeira Nazareth, a resident of
Loutolim, points out, “Having attended the gram sabha, I believe that the youth
is moving the mandate forward, and that demands being made at these meetings
are made in sync with forward movement, given that there was a clear mention
even by the sarpanch that the youth is missing out on opportunities owing to a
lack of access to technology, which was a key driver of the motion to install a
tower in the village.”
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Joaquim Gracias, another resident of the
village, also shares his take on the matter, saying, “I think that it is
important to note that while there were plenty of young people from the village
present, there were plenty of older people too, fighting for things that matter
to the youth. The need for a cell phone tower is pressing, given that the
currently available broadband service doesn’t function properly. The older
members of the community too, who had gathered, pressed upon this point, making
it very clear that the children of the village need this on an educational
front, if nothing else. And there is a need for a change in the mind-set of
many; for instance, the whole cancer angle, which is debatable. In fact, if cancer
is such a huge cause for concern, I think that people should also be more
mindful of what they eat, which can be just as harmful. I had taken up a
petition regarding this cell phone matter, and over 500 people have signed it.
I think that’s enough said.”
A representative of a renowned
telecommunications company pointed out the importance of youth mobility on this
matter in particular, saying, “There were many myths about installation of cell
phone towers, and their harmful effects. In a joint effort with the Cellular
Operators Association of India (COAI), the Telecom Regulatory Authority of
India (TRAI) and the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TERM) Cell, we
conducted a lengthy exercise, dispelling all the myths that surrounded these
varied topics. We’ve been conducting exercises for nearly two years now, and to
be fair, the youth has played a very large role in our movement into villages,
because they are largely affected by this same network failure. However, some
members of this movement (one in particular, from Chandor) truly drove this
initiative in awareness. I think that we need to highlight how important this
youth-driven exercise was.”
While Loutolim seems to be a great point
for a bigger movement to have kicked off, Café speaks to a couple of
youngsters, inquiring whether they feel that more youthful engagement can take
on serious issues:
The youth of today is more relevant than
the youth of the yesteryears; simply because the world is a much more advanced,
technological and transparent place than it used to be. The youth of the bygone
days was physically and vocally powerful, whereas the youth of today is armed
with more knowledge and more tools at its disposal, which is taking it to a
level far superior to its predecessors. Education is a matter of mere minutes
with the help of the internet, and the younger generation can use the same
platform to unite and start a movement in a matter of no time. Young minds and
technology are fast evolving; more importantly, they are binding together and
playing important roles in today’s society.
Akio Fernandes
It’s evident that the youth absolutely has
to step up, because if the future is theirs, then they need to invest a little
more of themselves into working towards it. There are so many matters that truly
need to be addressed: garbage management, corruption, preserving nature, and
its resources. I think that the younger generation needs to understand that the
time for action is now, and not assume that someone else will tackle the issue
on their behalf.
Carlos Noronha
