The year began on a classic note, actually two, with the
Chief Minister saying “homosexuality is a natural gift”, in an attempt to cover
another embarrassment of an embarrassing minister Ramesh Tawadkar who said
“centers would be set up to cure homosexuals”. The CM then followed this up by
saying, “There are some who are born with certain disabilities. God forgets to
give them certain things. That is negligence on the part of God. NGOs that
focus on special needs are ‘rectifying the mistake committed by God’.”
As the new-year begins, a bumbling Chief Minister of Jan
2015 who admitted that “ignorance” may have made him make those statements has
transformed into an icon of shrewdness of Jan 2016. Gone is the early hesitancy
when he said that “he looked forward to being defended and protected by
Parrikar”. The Parsekar Version 2016.0 is a transformed version of Parsekar
2015.0 who no longer needs any defence and protection. In a dramatic
turnaround, it is the Defence Minister himself who is trying to get back the control
he handed over thinking, it would be is for the taking. Parrikar is now in
competition with Parsekar and is actually trying to wrest control. His grand
birthday party – which was his idea packaged as a workers idea – and his
comments like “If the Goa government is
going on the wrong track, I’ll put it on the right track”, come both from
a sense of very rare insecurity, and the
urge to take control.
BUT GOA IS ALMOST GONE. It is reaching a stage where unless
something drastic is done it will be beyond repair. In the combined rule of
Manohar Parrikar and Laxmikant Parsekar, every failed promise, every U turn and
every indecision has made the common man the victim and the rich man, the
connected man, the politically influential man, the beneficiary of government
decisions.
Here is the legacy of subjugation that 2015 has left the
common man, a burden he carries over to 2016.
1 The government can take over anything and allow any
project, existing laws be damned officially
We begin with this since the people of Goa haven’t yet
realised this has happened. The Investment Promotion Board created by the
government and given legal authority through the Investment Promotion Act has
the right to recommend any area as an investment promotion zone. Once the
government acts on the recommendation and notifies the area, almost every act
which governs land control and use for the people of Goa, is held hostage. This
anti-people act violates the fundamental principle which governs a level
playing field for all. Under this act powerful groups of people with contacts
with government can get areas notified for investment, while lesser mortals
will have to contend with all regulations and confirm to the Regional Plan. The
big investors are above all that.
This violates the fundamentals of Article 14 of the
Constitution which deals with discrimination in governance. Discrimination
occurs when a public authority, for no objective or reasonable reason, applies
apparently neutral policies in a way that has a disproportionate impact on
individuals or groups.
CONCLUSION: A big investor is a friend, the common man
including a local Goan, not so.
2 THE COMMON PARENT’S VOICE IS GETTING CRUSHED AS THE GOVT ALLOWS AN EDUCATION ISSUE TO
BECOME A COMMUNAL ONE
The government’s betrayal on the issue of Medium of
Instruction and the way voices like the BBSM are polarizing Goan society have
in the past – and as a part of this package – been covered. But the government
will commit a serious constitutional violation and will once again fall guilty
of violating Article 14. The government is applying double standards by giving
grants to an existing set of primary schools with English as a medium of
instruction, but not bringing in a legislation to the effect because a radical
group like the BBSM has threatened to go against a government it backs, if it
finally passes a bill, as promised, legalizing grants to for teaching in
English.
Here is a simple demand from parents to have a choice to
teach their children in whichever language they want and they have the right to
demand that the government give grants for the same. This is between parents
and the government. The BBSM is a non-state actor and has no right or privilege
to intervene unless it speaks for parents. And no parent in Goa will ever come
out and say that grants should be given to their children with Marathi and
Konkani as their MoI and denied to those students learning English.
CONCLUSION: CM Parsekar is looking at betraying his solemn
promise to Savio Lopes, the Convenor of Forum for Rights of Children in
Education (FORCE) that the Goa
Education Bill would be introduced during the winter session of the Assembly
and thereby to hundreds of parents. Here again the common parents have been
betrayed and denied their right to chose for their children and have government
grants to back that choice
3 THE ORDINARY VILLAGER IS AN ANT IN FRONT OF CORPORATE
BULLDOZERS
Tiracol & Tuem: On May 16 2015, hired bouncers of
Leading Hotels bulldozed into a tiny hamlet of Tiracol with bouncers and
started felling trees on a survey number on which they had no permission to
fell. The forest department had not given permission then. Later permissions,
which were granted, were based on fraudulent manipulations by the Forest
Officer under instructions from the political bosses to give tree felling
permissions to Leading Hotels. In Tuem, as in Tiracol, the scourge of the
government allowing the sale of tenanted lands through the original landlords
defying the tenancy act in each case continued. Long time tenant Amarnath Naik
suddenly found his land “sold” to the government because the Chief Minister
wanted an electronic city where his land was. But there was no consultation, no
discussion, no views sought. And when one Amarnath Naik whose land was sold
decided to protest, he was arrested.
In village after village, the common man is finding his
destiny taking an ugly turn, his peaceful existence shattered by the long arm
of the government throttling them while its other arm extends a helping hand to
the mega investor. The job promises continue to be pipe dreams while land
losses continue to be everyday ugly realties.
4 DRUG CARTELS
PROSPER, DRUG PUSHERS LIVE IN RENTED HOMES
IN BARDEZ AND PROSTITUTES DOTTING THE COAST LINE OR ‘HOME DELIVERED”
MAKE SLEAZE AN UNCHECKED INDUSTRY
Coke and Charlie suppliers are on speed dials of many of the
rich, with quality and delivery guaranteed, girls are even easier to get than
substances while there are middle men for all. Illegal night clubs and bars
continue to flourish as life for ordinary citizens, especially along the coast
line has become a living hell.
It’s a New Year today. A new sunrise. But for most in Goa,
this new day will end in the same dark night. Never before has the need for the
people of Goa to rise and take their and Goa’s destiny in their own hands, been
greater.
