Yet, how much has changed from the last year to this year? Or for that matter from the Liberation Day of two or three years ago to today? The issues that remain in the news are the same – resumption of mining operations, shifting of offshore casinos, environment degradation, industry and employment, infrastructure, garbage management. Reading the news is almost like standing on the beach and watching the sea bring in the same driftwood with every tide that crashes upon the shore. There has been no change in the major issues that have been affecting the State. Any change that has been there, isn’t of the positive kind.
As the tricolour is unfurled across the State on Liberation Day, politicians will address the people, announcing what this government has achieved, and then promising to deliver much more in the months ahead. Pointedly, what has Goa achieved in the past 12 months since it celebrated its last Liberation Day?
The finances are shaky, debt is high. We’ve fallen in the rankings in the ease of doing business, and the CEO of the Investment Promotion Board chucked away the job as he saw no future in the State. Mining operations remain shut and the Mhadei issue has resurfaced to haunt the State. The potholed roads occaisoned music videos and Goa missed deadlines to present the Coastal Zone Management Plan, the Private Forest Report, and hurriedly certified itself as open defecation free by deploying mobile toilets to the rural areas. The ban on single-use plastic stands on paper, yes the use of this plastic has been reduced, but not totally. And then, there are also those other emotive issues of identity, language and culture that regularly rise up. Goa appears to be caught in a time warp that doesn’t change.
What then are we celebrating this Liberation Day, other than the fact that 58 years ago Goa was liberated from Portuguese rule? Have there been any spectacular successes in the past months that call for celebration?
It cannot be denied or glossed over that since the 1960s, the State has made progress in all sectors. From sparse higher education, little industry, few employment opportunities, almost the absence of connectivity and infrastructure, Goa has transformed into a developed State, but that growth has perceptibly slowed down as the government has not been able to surmount the challenges that have come its way in recent years. For instance, on the eve of Liberation Day, the Chief Minister sought a special financial package from the Centre to deal with the direct revenue loss of Rs 1400 crores on account of closure of mining industry in last few years. Doesn’t this make it evident that Goa is unable to manage its finances?
While bridges over rivers are getting built, bridges between communities are swiftly getting eroded at the foundations. This Liberation Day is being celebrated against the backdrop of protests over the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). It should be a day when communities are freed from the fear that their civil liberties are under threat. The government has to convince the people on this. In Goa, on the eve of Liberation Day, thousands of people came together to protest the CAA. The fear is that certain communities will get targetted by the new law.
Goa has remained a State where all communities have lived in peace. As it takes stock of the current situation and plans for the future, this is one aspect that cannot be brushed aside. All future projects and plans must ensure that we have to remain liberated from fear in our minds too, and that the State’s peaceful nature is not upset.
