In Ribandar the residents protested demanding that the old Goa Medical College buiding be turned into a health centre. In Chandor and Guirdolim there was a silent rally and a meeting over the transportation of coal. There were also small protests on the farm bills, and then in a late-night incident where Youth Congress members protesting at a hotel where Union Minister Prakash Javdekar was staying, were arrested by the police. All that happened on October 2 and a day later, there was a candle-light vigil in Panjim to condemn the brutal rape and murder of the woman in Uttar Pradesh. In Melauli, the residents continued their protest over the location of the IIT, and farmers showed black flags to the Union Minister who had come to reassure them on the content of the bills, while the Congress burnt the minister’s effigy.
October has begun with a series of protests and this is a glaring indication that governance in the State has failed to a large extent. The government has for months been struggling with the management of the COVID-19 pandemic, cases have been rising and deaths increasing, giving Goa the highest cases and deaths per million in the country. Then there is the case of the Mhadei, where Goa has not been able to protect the waters of the river and futher inaction will not just lead to a drying river but make it even more difficult to save the waters for the State. Industrialists have been grumbling of the drop in ranking in the ease of doing business, and despite promises, the government has not achieved any success in restarting mining operations.
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What we have here are a series of examples of just how shoddy governance in Goa has become. It does not send a message of a government that is capable of meeting the challenges of governing a State. As issues arise, the government and the bureaucracy have shown little initiative in setting or correcting the course and taking the path that will resolve the concerns expressed by the people. The inaction by the government on all these issues has led to protests by the people. Unless the government can guarantee the people that it is taking up their concerns and will resolve them, the protests will not die down. For instance, the villagers of Melauli have said they will not withdraw their agitation for relocating the site for the IIT. How will the government tackle this?
Other than the pandemic, most of the other issues revolve around environmental matters. Union Environment Minister Prakash Javdekar is in Goa. He has met with the farmers on the farm bills issue. Since the government has failed in meeting the concerns of the people, will the Union Minister assuage the concerns that the people have on such a large number of environmental issues currently plaguing the State? Can he assure that the three developmental projects at Mollem will not harm the forests of Goa with the tree-cutting that will take place? Can he assure that any disruption in the flow of the waters of the River Mhadei will not affect Goa’s environment? What assurance can he give the people of Melauli who are fighting to stay in the land where they have lived and that their ancestors before them lived on and earned their livelihood from? These are just some questions that people wants answers to, and since the State government is silent, can they come from the Union Minister, who holds the relevant portfolio?
