With the present political scenario, Goa is bound to go for a toss on all fronts. The indecisiveness of the present government showed how hollow they could be without their leader who was away for quite a while, and most of the Goans had him in their prayers. And now that he is back, one would wonder as to how long he will handle the pressure of governance. He knows that health may not permit him to see all the silver linings. But only if he realises that life will be tough and short, he should take care of Goa and Goans with his guts on and work for the welfare of the State in true sense as he knows well that his colleagues are nothing but conspirators in the waiting to jump the wagon at the slightest bad news. God forbid.
But the corner-gossips cannot be ignored either where people seem to be talking of the curses befalling on so many ministers for betraying their trust. And in between the governance has taken a beating in every department and specially the TCP which is at the receiving end. The rampant hill cuttings and encouragement of under-belly forces has made Goa a victim due to the omission and commission of its own disgraceful sons who in the name of saving Goa from the past rot have usurped all norms to satisfy their own selfish goals.
Tourism is one sector which has taken severe beating for the worse and cannot expect any miracles in the near future with “an incapable man” at the helms of affairs. After Parrikar, Goa will still be looking forward for the leadership who would head the government of the people and for the people. All those in power now and in the past have mocked the Goan electorate and what we can witness today is the end result for everyone to see. The very working ethics of any government department is questionable as people are harassed umpteen times in every respect for want of good administrators.
The Industrial Estates have failed Goans at large and instead have only benefitted the outsiders whom most of the Goans curse now for ruining their pristine villages. This was foreseen years back when those who mooted the idea of industrial estates and promised 80% of the jobs to the locals are now cooling their heels and enjoying their ill-gotten loot. How much does these Industrial Estates care for the local villages? Is there any clue to justify where any industry can proudly say that they have adopted a village and cared for their locals?
There was a day when most of the Goan Clubs were to believe that once popular club of Nagoa Village, namely Pax of Nagoa Sports Club, was fully patronised by the companies of the Verna Industrial Estate. But alas, I cannot remember a single rupee flowing from this sector at least when I was running the affairs of the club as general secretary.
In reality, even if few of the companies had acceded to any of the clubs’ request for sponsorship, every club in Goa today would have climbed the ladder of success perennially. Who has taken care of the Goan youth? Why Goans don’t pursue higher studies? Why the Goans are migrating to the greener pastures? Why the Goan Comunidades and Municipalities are in shambles? Why Goans cannot tackle the garbage problems till date? Why Goans have to come on the streets for each and every government’s misadventure? Why every Minister works only for his constituency when he is the minister for whole of Goa? Why has the employment exchange become redundant? Why Goans should pay exorbitant prices for fish? Who controls the fish wholesale markets in Goa? These are the few questions that ministers and politicians have to answer for themselves before coming to their people begging for votes.
Today, every politician from Goa has played into the hands of the builders lobby for selfish aggrandisement and in the bargain totally destroyed the Goan ethos. If one opens the diary of all the past and present politicians one will notice the wealth they have accumulated through shoddy means usurping their powers. Be it in the form of property-hotels and of course safe deposits into the safe havens which is enough for their posterity. Who will bell the cat towards their wealth? Can the CBI be so blind to their grandiose accumulations of wealth? It is to be seen now how the scene is unfolding given that Mr Parrikar is back home.
