Rest and recreation?
Recently, the Mormugao port authorities have been quoted
outlining plans for developing Goa as a centre for rest and
recreation (R&R) for soldiers. Assuming the port authorites
were understood right, and not misquoted, then they had better
be clear about what their plans are, and take the State into confidence
before pushing for anything, the consequences of which
may go well beyond the port and its earnings.
Experiences of Far East Asian countries with R&R bases are
only too well known, for a region like Goa to plunge headlong
into the same without careful consideration. Military R&R bases
have become another name for centres of prostitution.
This has been true in Okinawa Japan, South Korea, and the
Philippines. Not just that, the R&R centres have affected government
policies, and worsened political repression and economic
inequalities. Police corruption, debt bondage and worsening of
gender equations are part of the picture.
“Where there are soldiers, there are women who exist for
them,” is a know saying. Contrary to common assumptions in
the West, prostitution is not “part of Asian culture”, as has been
pointed out. Yet, demand creates its own supply. Books like ‘Let
the Good Times Roll: Prostitution and the U.S. Military in Asia’
have carefully documented this issue.
With West Asia — from Afghanistan to Iraq — getting caught up
badly in military conflict, Goa is strategically located and probably
suits the interests of the globe’s only superpower. Tiny Goa,
which has been kicked around like a football only too often in
colonial times, needs to think carefully and closely about what it
wants to get into.
Cycling to school
Goa’s government has announced that it is to soon distribute
around two hundred cycles to students from the Gouly
(sometimes called the Dhangar) community. This community,
notes the government, lives in the hilly and remote areas of
talukas like Sattari, Sanguem, Quepem and Canacona. Transport
is not easily available.
This makes sense. Rather than subsidising computers to the
children of the rich and middle-class, distributing cycles to the
deprived section of society could indeed empower them. Such
initiatives are necessary; though far from sufficient.
P. Sainath, noted developmental journalist, writes about how
cycles have created a social revolution among neo literature
women in places like Pudukkottai in Tamil Nadu. This in one of
India’s poorest villages.
To yield results, though, such schemes need to be worked out
with dedication and consistency. Some years back, cycles were
distributed to eight standard girl students through the Sarva
Shiksha Abhiyan, under a scheme worked out by Luizinho Faleiro,
when he was in power. Nothing is known about it at present, and
the scheme has probably been discontinued.
How effective has such schemes been? Have their impact been
studied? It is not enough to go just by hunch. A closer look at
the State budget shows that just Rs 5 lakh has been allocated for
purchasing the bicycles for the Gouly student scheme, with
another Rs 2 lakh to “other charges”.
Obviously, the government will need to find other ways of ensuring
accountability in its transactions, beyond the lowest-tender
approach. Likewise, after handing out the cycles, Goa would do
well to ensure that it helps train a string of cycle mechanics, so
that they can keep these useful vehicles in a state of repair.
With changing times, the once humble cycle mechanic who
played such an important role in our rural (and urban) areas is
hardly visible nowadays. There are no cycles available for hire by
the hour, as was once possible.
Most citizens seem obsessed with motorised, private transport.
But there are also changes at the corner. Panjim has its own cycle
club. Some entrepreneurs have been working to promote cycle
tours among tourists — with audio-guides and what not thrown in.
Indeed, the cycle could be a tool for empowerment in Goa
too, why not. But more needs to be done for that to happen.
