PRATIK PARAB
pratik@herald-goa.com
Goa as a tourist destination may have everything for everyone, but for Goans it has nothing. About 40 or 50 women from remote villages of Sanguem, Canacona, and other areas who have been coming to Margao to sell their produce of farm fresh vegetables and seasonal fruits haven’t been given even a small piece of Margao.
Margao, a town which boasts to be the commercial capital of Goa has several small time vegetable vendors from neighbouring talukas coming to sell their little produce. The vegetables and fruits which they sell are essentially organically grown varieties. The Margao Municipal Council (MMC) and the South Goa Planning and Development Authority (SGPDA) which are in control of the markets of Margao have been totally ignoring these tribal women.
These women have to sit in an extremely cramped and roadside place opposite the police station with their produce. One of the women coming from Balli is Bhaagi Gaonkar. Bhaagi told Herald, “We come from Canacona with some of our produce. As we don’t grow much, we finish soon and leave for the day. We get chillies, melons, rice, kokum and other produce.”
“We are the oldest Goan people and practice the oldest occupation in the world – vegetable farming. But we feel sad that we are not given place in the markets in Margao,” Bhaagi said. She added, “We pay Rs 20 to sit here and, in fact, we have already complained to the MMC that they allow the migrants to sell in the open in any area and Goan farmers like us who are only dependent on this sale are not allowed.” She went on to say that their produce was confiscated by the MMC on several occasions.
Rajashree Velip from Canacona has also been selling her produce at the same location for the last 10 years. She said, “30 to 50 women including me who are small time farmers come to Margao every day and all the authorities know this. Sadly, we are not allowed to sit in the market and are helpless. Hence, we sit beneath this tree.” “When we tried to sit near the SGPDA market, we were chased away by the sellers saying we disrupt their business. We have been here for 10 years and we deserve at least a small place,” Rajashree pleaded.
Shriram Raiturkar from Margao who recently met the Town Planner with the request to shift these women to a better place said, “I had asked the Chief Town Planner Putturaju to move the vegetables sellers who come from hilly areas of the state and sell completely organic produce to the SGPDA market. Surprisingly, this market is empty.”
“The TCP and the SGPDA were supposed to give a place for these small time farmers, but the non-Goan fruit sellers in the SGPDA market objected and told the SGPDA not to allow the Goans to sit. It is absurd that the SGPDA kept quiet and never bothered to get to a solution,” Shriram complained. “Non-Goans are getting more preference for business and that is the moral of this story,” he said angrily.
