Goa turns 37-year-old today as a State and, as every middle-aged youth would, every Goan should reflect on the achievements and plan for the future.
As an independent State, the smallest in the country, Goa has prospered to be amongst the top two States in terms of per capita income and literacy. Often called the Rome of the East, Goa is the most sought after destination not only by tourists but also for a second home. However, like every success story, Goa too has its flip side.
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The most prominent in the recent years has been the growing unemployment and under employment within the State. At 13%, Goa’s unemployment rate is almost four times the national average of 3.17. After the closure of the mining industry, Goan youth have often taken the exit route looking for greener pastures either in the European countries or in the shipping industry.
While there is a lot of tom-tom about some of India’s premier institutes opening up their campuses in the State, the elementary education of the Goa has come under scrutiny. As per the National Achievement Survey, Goan students performed below the national average in basic math, science and social sciences.
Recently, the Chief Minister said that no new English medium schools will be granted permission. As a policy decision, this requires critical analysis as English as a language is being used globally. Even those countries, where non-English speaking populations study in their vernacular languages, have adopted a two-language education policy. For Goa, the problem is not the language but rather the standard of the schools and the quality of education provided in the government-run institutions. Goa perhaps is the last State created on the basis of language, but despite being the official language the use of Konkani in administrative work is next to invisible. Goans often have a problem with migrants from other States who wish to settle in Goa, but the home States of all these migrants not only have their State language as the medium of instruction but also extensively use their mother tongue in the State’s administration.
That leads to another important issue that Goans have been struggling to preserve for years – cultural identity. There is very little effort for the promotion of culture and traditions. During the summer, there have been a lot of fests and festivals organised in the State and the public sentiment is that, barring a few moments, all the festivals were bereft of Goa’s indigenous culture and folklore. Even the local musicians and artistes were sidelined or given very little time in comparison to those from outside the State. The nail in the coffin is the playing of Bollywood songs mixed with trance music at these festivals and also at all the tourism-related activities, including the river cruises in the Mandovi river.
Finally, the most important aspect, availability of which is limited, is Goa’s land resource. There has been a perennial struggle between the activists and the land sharks who want to occupy every bit of Goa’s land for commercialisation. The struggle for a ‘Special Status’ for Goa is a long one. The BJP in its 2012 election manifesto had promised Special Status to the State. The Goa Assembly also unanimously passed a resolution seeking Special Status for Goa to regulate ownership and transfer of land and to protect Goa’s identity. The State has been demanding a Special Status to preserve its culture and heritage as against the financial powers sought by other States. However, the issue had got diluted over the years.
The latest example of this struggle is the issue highlighted by the people of Bicholim and Sanquelim, who are up in arms against a mega housing project being developed at Karapur which has been given approval to subdivide the land into nearly 1,400 plots.
In 2015, the then Chief Minister, Laxmikant Parsekar, had said that special status is a mirage and during the subsequent years of governance Special Status has only remained a political tool. And in the run-up to the recent Lok Sabha polls, the Chief Minister earlier this month said that special status does not matter for Goa.
At the age of 37, after analysis, like anyone would do while planning for the future, the Goa government needs to pursue better policies for the future of Goans. And, above all, preservation of land for future generations is of prime concern.
