The 30th anniversary of Goa’s Statehood Day, a small milestone in the State’s journey, slipped by with no programmes held to mark it, except with tweets from Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar. While Modi said he prays for the State’s ‘progress and prosperity’, Parrikar sought the people’s support to achieve the government’s ‘dream of making Goa a model State’.
It was the code of conduct for the June 11 panchayat polls that put a stop to the celebrations that this day would otherwise have seen. This year, the government’s Common Minimum Programme had been slated to be released on this day, but has been postponed to June 18, Revolution Day, due to the code of conduct. But the absence of speeches, that often turn political, presented the opportunity to fleetingly ponder on the gains of statehood and more importantly to contemplate seriously on issues pressing the State and how to structure its future development, especially the immediate one.
A cursory look back at the past years has seen Goa, in the name of development, being physically transformed, which in turn has led to social and cultural changes. That pace of change has been rapid and not always for the best of reasons or for the greater good. If the fields and hills are less green, if the sand on the beaches has turned from silvery to brown, if the river waters are coloured more green than blue, then there are social-cultural changes too that have come about, leading to a wider debate on how to safeguard Goa for the future. One idea being propounded is that of special status. This idea, of special status for the State to protect the land, is not new. It has been mooted and debated over the decades, and while it may be difficult to get the Union Government to agree to grant such a status to Goa, in the State there has been little done to save the land. A government’s main concern is the people and the land, but while subsequent governments have introduced a number of schemes for the upliftment of the people, the land has been neglected, and even forgotten. Not only is the Regional Plan, already long delayed, not finalised, there are few laws in place that protect the land, and various loopholes that help circumvent the already weak laws in force.
Some changes are expected to come and many will be revealed in the Common Minimum Programme, but most of these will be rectifying the mistakes of the past like withdrawing the amendment to the controversial Tree Preservation Act that declassified coconut as ‘tree’, drop the amendment to Goa Agriculture Tenancy Act and review the rules and regulations of the Investment Promotion Board (IPB) and the permissions granted by it in the past two years.
But what will be new in the Common Minimum Programme that is expected to focus on providing a sensitive and responsible government? Will the land laws be strengthened to protect this scarce resource?
This Statehood Day, when we were not bombarded with promises, was the right time to consider these questions and find answers to them, to look at projects proposed and projects already cleared and whether they will make a positive difference in the lives of the people, whether economically or socially. It is wonderful to dream of a model State, but achieving this can only come with people’s participation, and that co-operation will come when the government makes the right moves. The people await the first step from the government, to then extend their hand in partnership to turn the dream of a model State into a reality.
