Apparently some money was given by the Central Government to upgrade the infrastructure for the summit, but mobilisation of so much men and machinery sent a message loud and clear, that if there is a will there is a way. Meaning, that all the potholes, infrastructure flaws and the never ending projects which Goans endure in the government’s normal course of business are intentional, to harass the local population. Goans plying the Colva road on a daily basis were amazed at the deployment of so many men at work, on the road expansion project and in sync with the government ones, whom we otherwise are used to seeing loitering around.
In their zest to complete the project, nobody cared about the dust and muck they created all around, not to mention the traffic hold ups Goans endured. Apparently the government was running against time and did not realise they had taken too much on their plate. Hence, were forced to deploy extra men and machinery in short period of time, even at the cost of inconveniencing the local people of South Goa. Apparently the government had taken for granted that the BRICS summit business is more important, than the daily business Goans undertake. True, the BRICS leaders have so much to discuss, even Prime Minister Modi on the sidelines of the summit, needs to bring China around, as they seem to block every progressive move India makes. But to aggressively marginalise Goans in Goa and to consider that their work is of no significance could be the beginning of making Goans second class citizens in their own state.
Let’s not blame the Chief Minister of Goa, who accepted the challenge of hosting the summit. A Chief Minister running his economy with a 15,000 crore debt as of date, will always be on the back foot and is in no position to refuse the Prime Minister’s request. Instead the Government of Goa has taken the challenge, and in their words converted into an opportunity to showcase Goa as a tourist destination to the 900-odd delegates that will arrive for the BRICS summit. Since these delegates cannot be brought from the airport to the summit venue blindfolded, infrastructure work on the route they will use had to be upgraded on urgent basis.
So what is this opportunity the government is talking about? Opportunity for starred hotels that will be used for the summit, not likely, because even if there is a temporary pop in their occupancy ratio for a few days, all that security drill and the inconvenience caused to their daily routine business might not justify such an exercise. Opportunity to infrastructure contractors that deployed men and machines, well, they might have actually disturbed their planned schedule to accommodate this emergency work, so no big opportunity for them too. You don’t expect the delegates to stop their cars midway and pick up some refreshments from local shops, or visit our famous restaurants, so there goes that business also.
The only opportunity, one can think of is some sort of promotion for Goa in the international tourism market, hoping the delegates spread the good word about Goa. So if Goa was a public company than the accounts department would normally attribute the summit expense as advertising expense. Considering Goa’s balance sheet is a mess, such high advertising cost can never be justified, even if there was financial assistance from the Center.
Let’s assume we get lucky and the summit clicks and places Goa on a high pedestal, how many Goans are in a position to sense the opportunity and succeed, and how does the government of Goa plan to earn revenue that will reduce the mammoth debt they have piled on. It’s all good for the Chief Minister to talk about opportunity, but when you keep majority of your population busy fighting on trivial issues such as mother tongue and its related scripts, opportunity will pass them by, without even them knowing it existed.
On the other hand, a high-profile summit like this might actually dislodge small Goan businesses that are already catering to tourists and make way for creating huge tourism assets that will involve exclusive investors willing to take high stakes. As the entry level for these investments extraordinarily high, it is sure to marginalise Goans with limited means further. For argument sake, let’s assume the government intentions are honest of taking a calculated risk in hosting this summit. If the risk pays off, then Goans serving the tourism industry will not be able to compete with deep pocket investors willing to take high stakes in Goa. If the risk fails, than Goa takes a big financial hit, lose-lose scenario in any case. This debate can be put to rest, if the government sincerely appoints an independent agency to find out which of Goa’s sector’s benefit from events such as DefExpo and BRICS. Just building smooth roads, which many Goans nowadays use only to take the first flight out of Goa, cannot be the only reason that justifies a summit of this magnitude.
Meantime, Goans need to learn a lesson from this BRICS summit. Our parasitic attitude to loot the government finances, by availing numerous dole schemes have put the government on the back foot. The thought of repayment of Rs 15,000 crore debt can make you do crazy things; fortunately they have only decided to host the BRICS summit.
(The author is a business
consultant)
