The numbers come as the biggest shocker. That 27,000 Goans are set to lose their voting rights in the State not only changes the way Goa will be voting in the 2017 elections but raises a big question of why are Goans in such large numbers opting for Portuguese citizenship? The Chief Electoral Office has data received from the FRRO to show that such a large number of Goans hold Portuguese passports. While the number is far higher than the number of voters in some constituencies, and could even make the difference between winning and losing, there is the bigger picture to be addressed and that is the demographic changes that are occurring in the State.
It is no secret that Goans have been opting for the facility given by the Portuguese government that permits those born before 1961 and two generations after them to apply for citizenship of the former colonial power by first getting their births registered in the Central Registry in Lisbon. On any week day morning there are a number of people standing outside the Portuguese consulate in Panjim waiting for the gates to open and present their papers for registering their births in the Iberian country or for obtaining a Portuguese passport. Despite this being common knowledge, the numbers, coupled with the fact that about 10,000 names have already been deleted from the rolls for the same reason, come as a surprise and call for measures to retain Goans in Goa.
Yet, curbing migration may not be an easy task. History will bear out that Goans have always migrated. In the not too distant past, before Europe and the Arabian Gulf became big draws, they went to Africa and there was even a community in Burma. Pakistan still has a Goan community whose members make an annual pilgrimage to Old Goa to coincide with the novenas and feast of St Francis Xavier. There are sizeable Goan communities in the US, Canada, Australia, Portugal and a sprinkling of them in other countries. In Europe itself, before UK became attractive to Goans primarily due to its membership of the European Union from which it has now decided to exit, a number of Goans had made France their new home.
If the reasons for migration are only economic – people looking for a better standard of living in a country where they believe that the grass is greener – then it is for the government to create opportunities in Goa that the people of the land can opt for. Earlier this week Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar said that of the 16 projects that the Investment Promotion Board cleared at its meeting, eight were proposed by ‘sons of the soil’. It is such entrepreneurship among Goans that needs to be promoted by the government so that talent and human resources are retained in the State.
By allowing migration of Goans to the West, the State is letting go of its human wealth. At any Goan gathering there are loud discussions on the dilution of Goan identity created by the influx of migrants into the State. But migration into the State is happening because there are gaps that need to be filled, gaps created by Goans emigrating out of the State. Containing this emigration is of utmost importance, and this could be contained to an extent by creating jobs in the State.
Indian laws do not permit dual citizenship, so keeping that aside, there are two things that need to be addressed immediately. There is now a new urgency to the appointment of the Special Authority that the Union Home Ministry has announced and which will deal with the citizenship issue. While the authority will decide on Goans who have registered their births in Portugal, the second task that needs to be done is reassure Goans that they have a future in the State and are needed to be partners in its progress.
