There is a clarion from different quarters to look for fresh candidates for the next Assembly elections in the State. It is a good and growth promoting idea. There is hope that new faces may bring in renewed vigour and vitality to develop villages and also to fight the right-wing ideologues in the State and the country at large. On the other hand, during the last elections many new faces were elected to the State Assembly hoping that Goa will be protected from various goons. Unfortunately, most of them failed to rise to the occasion and so, we had shortage of beef in Goa, there was tacit attack on minorities, convent schools and many anti-people projects. These new faces even failed to protect their own constituencies from illegal activities. To cite a few examples, the River Sal is as polluted as ever with E-coli bacteria. Without following CRZ, illegal scrap yard is built on the bank of River Sal. Garbage menace continues to haunt the villagers.
The road junction near the Rosary Church at Navelim, is a death trap for the travellers and pedestrians but every representative of the constituency promised that the heavy traffic will be diverted to the bypass road which passes behind the church, but to this day the situation remains the same. The electricity supply to the Navelim wards like Fradilem has been irregular since 1977. No representative has paid attention to this basic need of the villagers. Now, the sewage pipes are being laid in the villages; there is utter mess in the villages. Such works are being done without even taking the villagers into confidence. Roads are blocked and there are open pits on the roads. So much of inconvenience is caused to the villagers. And so, there is no guarantee that new brooms will sweep better in future. It is a rare situation wherein the representative of the people or a party that has brought changes in the villages without ulterior motives. But what is more sustainable and guaranteed is mass movement – the people’s movement. History tells us that anti-people activities were halted by people’s movements. Therefore, people need to rise to the occasion to protect and develop their villages. People can bring about a change in their constituencies. People need to come together to protect Goa.
