Herald: What is so unique about the comunidade system?
Pereira: According to a Supreme Court Judgement of 2011, comunidades are village committees. They are communes for people to enjoy as a community. According to documents in 1510, inhabitants of Goa made a contract with the Portuguese because when Adil Shah governed what is now known as Goa, he basically turned the screws on the people economically. Our own people brought the Portuguese to Goa from Calicut. After that they signed a contract with them ensuring that the Gaunkari systems, as they were called then, survived as the Comunidade. From then on the government of Goa became the guardian.
Goa is the only place where land rent is not paid. This is because of this contract. Originally there were comunidades all over India but under different names.
However, only in Goa they remained because of the contract between the Goans and the Portuguese while in British India they were destroyed. We have government testimony (data) to this effect.
However, let me point out one thing – it is not that the Portuguese did not commit atrocities. Like for example in 1735 they suddenly imposed a ground rent in addition to the taxes. This ground rent was originally started by the British in British India. But from 1962 this ground rent was stopped and this is an acceptance that the comunidade system predated the State or even the colonial power.
Herald:What are the problems the comunidades face?
Pereira: Problems faced are with the courts – lower courts, High Court and even the Supreme Court do not know the comunidade system. The judiciary setup is based on the British concept – where the State government is always the landlord. In other words this means that you are supposed to be subordinate to the government. What the courts don’t understand is that only that body that has the authority to grant land has sovereign powers. Also there are basically two laws – one is the Code of the Comunidades and the second is the Land Revenue Code. All over India land is governed by the Land Revenue Code, but comunidades do not pay the government; so they do not follow the Land Revenue Code. In other words no land pays revenue to the state.
Herald: Why is it that when so many illegalities are pointed out nothing ever happens?
Pereira: The main problems are the administrators. We do not have proper administrators. They are in collusion with politicians. Also their tenure is very short. They remain in office for three or four months and then go away. Also they are supposed to take action against frauds. But no action has ever been taken against any frauds. The first culprits are the administrators. If the administrator was doing his job then what happened in Serula comunidade would not have happened.
