PLASTINO D’COSTA
If Goans are genuinely contemplating regain ing our rapidly losing ground in Goa, then it will be foolhardy to depend on political parties that are headquartered in Delhi. Political parties such as the ABC trio might make every effort to look and sound like they care for Goa, but they do not. They are here for Goa’s real estate and, in the bargain, mess up the Goan community that Goans meticulously built over a period of time. An organic local party is the need of the hour that will stay true and committed to Goa’s interests. A lot of expectations were built on Party A, which did look unique from Party B and C. They genuinely have done a lot of grassroots work for the community, but the fact that their Delhi bosses are willing to negotiate with the corrupt makes one wonder if we are looking at a mirage, because they seem hardly interested in the welfare of Goa and their goal seems to be just to win the elections by hook or by crook, with no respect for the local population. There is no point in putting to gether Goan-faced MLAs, making them do the heavy lifting, and then coming on a holiday, dropping your guard and carelessly speak ing to anyone you think is vital without taking Goan opinion into consideration. This only goes to show that these Delhi bosses, despite their well-crafted caring image, actually work detri mentally to the image they project. To add insult to injury, the parties with a differ ence—a tagline they always use at the beginning of their Goan journey—start appearing almost similar in behaviour and approach, apparently because their think tank comes from the identical place—Delhi. The local units, be it the party in office or in opposition, have taken the same old path. What started as a tradi tion by Party C and copied by Party B is now aped by Party A too. Large hoard ings are placed all over Goa when their Delhi bosses ar rive in Goa, where the local representatives’ pictures are crowded and smaller in size, while the picture of their boss is in an imposing and bigger pose. What sort of message is this, and what is it supposed to signify? This type of top-down ap proach is not going to help Goa’s cause if leaders from Delhi are made to look like kings. In the recent 39A stand off, the local minister took most of the flak, but we Goans must realise that every decision, strategic or mundane, is taken in Delhi and the Goan min ister is just following or ders. The local unit might project that they are in charge, but they are not. By taking out our anger on the local politician, we are effectively shielding the actual masterminds that are hell-bent on shap ing Goa according to what they want it to be. Goa’s main lure has been speculation in real estate, so if we need to regain our lost ground, we will need laws that effectively shun excess speculation in the real estate market. Yes, the market might face short term blips, but in the long term, we will regain Goa from being murdered. So how do we manage specu lation? One way would be to bring in a law that Goan real estate is not complete ly open to outsiders. We do not stop every outsider from buying real estate, but allow about 5% of outsid ers to own Goan real estate. This 95:5 Goan/outsider ratio is good enough to make sure the Goan way of life is protected. Tourists are not the threat here; it is the Indian tourist who converts himself into a res ident after experiencing our way of life, while the remaining convert them selves into real estate in vestors-cum-speculators. The entry level is just too easy. There are many Indi ans who have gone to ex tremes so as to own more than five Airbnbs, financing the purchases with high levels of debt, thereby pric ing out Goans who are com paratively debt-averse. If we want to regain Goa, then Goans have to make some serious lifestyle changes too. We cannot af ford a lifestyle that depends on cheap labour from out of the State and then expect Goa will not have any con sequences. Lazy, because if we employ house helps by the dozen, just because we can afford to do our dai ly household chores, then please do not complain when these house helps get together and celebrate their festivals, which are completely alien to us, on our pristine beaches. If everybody starts employ ing people from outside the State, then these people are bound to increase and when they reach critical mass, the culture automat ically changes as they ar rive with their own cultural baggage. Most Goan employers will argue that Goans do not put in the desired hours, have a poor work ethic and are not willing to do me nial jobs, and that forces them to settle for employ ees from outside the State. For these Goan employees, there is just one message: if you want to regain Goa, you had better pull up your socks. Just because you are a Goan does not mean you are entitled to a job when your productivity is half that of your foreign peer. Also, please stop this bad habit of comparing your remuneration with the profits your employer is making; he is taking all the financial and business risk, so that even in loss you still get your salary. If we need to regain Goa, we need Goan boots on the ground. People leaving Goa easily in the name of edu cation, employment or to reside in tax havens will have to be addressed by the government. Actually, taxation is the greatest tool available to the govern ment to stop speculation in the real estate market, sim ilar to how taxes have been applied by India on crypto. But there is no will on this front because politicians are heavily invested in real estate, either directly or through proxies. For all this to happen, we need a completely loyal, Goa-centric local party. Per haps we give such a party a chance and keep a hawk’s eye on its performance on a daily basis. These Delhi parties cannot be expected to take care of Goans; re member, their playground is the entire country and taking the side of Goans might hurt their image as a national party. Regaining Goa can happen only when 95% equity of Goa remains in Goan hands. For that to happen, we will need a Goan party that will make laws which reverse some of the damage that has been done and regain Goa for Goans. (The author is a Business Consultant)
