We are only in mid-May and as per a report over 900 Goans have surrendered their Indian passports this year after acquiring Portuguese passports. This is an alarming situation. What is the government’s reaction to this glaring turn of events? Importantly, this is not the first time that such a mass exodus is being experienced, for it is becoming a routine feature over the last few years.
Even in the distant past the trend was no doubt to seek greener pastures abroad for it was an accepted norm to move to the Middle-East during the prime years, make good money and return back to home-sweet-home in the ancestral villages to spend the old age in the abode surrounded by lush greenery. Thereafter the common motto was to oppose any development, which could usher in employment to the people, as it mattered very little to the repatriates.
The latest trend unfurls that even that fondness and yearning for the motherland to get amalgamated with it one day seems to be on the wane. Most of the people are tempted to move abroad as it promises a higher standard of living. Moreover it is apparent that this lot has resigned to their fate that it would not be possible for them to compete with the people around and that they would be perpetually driven towards the downside.
The government too cannot exonerate itself from this phenomenon as there is a total failure by successive regimes to create ample and competitive job opportunities for the locals. Even when some hopes were raised to set up ventures that could have promoted jobs there was rampant opposition by vested interests. A number of projects were shelved by the Church-sponsored opposition, notable among them being the IT habitat. Any industrialization, even if it is assured to be pollution free, is opposed by such groups. The green field airport at Mopa which would have provided employment to many is recklessly opposed.
We only hear that so many thousand jobs would be created but nobody knows how and where and even if something is initiated wild opposition springs up. Conclusively then these are the two basic issues that are triggering emigration from the Goan shores – failing job opportunities to make a living locally and fading love for the motherland.
