A large number of them are here to work on the fishing trawlers that will go out to sea on August 1 onwards after the two-month long break during which mechanised fishing is banned. They alight at Tivim, but move onwards from there to wherever their work takes them, mostly the coastal areas for fishing and sand extraction, as they claim. The others will look for work on construction sites, and yet others will wait on roadsides at specific locations seeking to be employed on a daily wage for minor works. Earlier they came in smaller numbers, but the impending start of the fishing season has brought larger numbers at the same time.
On two consecutive Mondays, the Patna-Vasco Express disgorged thousands of migrants at the Tivim railway station, even leading to the State government seeking a report on this mass arrival. On Monday this week, approximately 5,000 more labourers alighted at Tivim from the Patna-Goa train. They come to the State in search of employment and as long as they will find work here, work that they are capable of doing, they will keep coming to Goa. The irony is that as long as Goa wants infrastructure and development, there is no manner in which it will be able to stem the flow of migrant labour into the State. Almost the entire workforce at construction sites is made up of migrant labourers, and no amount of debate or rants on social media will stop their arrival in the State. Goans have moved to white collar jobs, creating the space for outsiders to take up the blue collar jobs in the State.
Governments have been attempting to introduce laws that will get industry to employ Goans. The Start-up Policy of the State has incentives to start-ups that will employ Goans, but this was one of the many points of the policy that had not found favour with the entrepreneurial class. They did not want such restrictions on their working. This is indicative of the fact that it is not just in the labour area where Goans are not finding work, but even in office jobs and top management jobs where Goans are overlooked in their own State. It calls for some innovative government action that will support the employment of Goans in Goa.
The debate on the arrival of the migrants, the instructions from the government for a report on this, are examples of how Goans are beginning to feel threatened by the influx of migrants. This is not a new phenomenon, it has been happening since the 1960s, but the more rapid arrival and the larger number of migrant labourers is upsetting the social structure in the State, even if at present it may not be so discernible. Just last week, seeking a translator in the House, the Chief Minister had quipped that one day, there may be members speaking Kannada in the Legislative Assembly. With the State population now consisting of a large number of migrants to the State, this possibility just cannot be ruled out.
The demand for special status that has been made and renewed over the past few years, has at its base the threat of the Goan one day being swamped by the migrant population. This fear is turning real as across the State and across industry, there are cases of the Goan being ignored in favour of outsiders. Special status would serve in safeguarding the interests of the Goan, and should be explored with all the seriousness that it merits. It will not be easy, but it cannot be set aside merely because of the difficulty level in obtaining it. It may serve the purpose of saving the Goan in his own land.
