Your rooster which has been bringing to you the Herald Insight daily for over two months, will soon be travelling to different parts of the State to meet many of you to get your feedback on people you think should be true people’s representatives.
It’s a call we at Herald gave for the people of Goa to bring people-centric changes in the way we choose candidates, the principles on which elections should be fought and that the power of decision-making should be in the hands of the people.
Herald will come to you soon for an exchange of ideas
We have been encouraged by many of your responses and will reach out to those who have pledged to help and participate in this exercise in as many constituencies as possible with an aim to go to all.
Since the ‘rooster’, will be involved in this exercise, your Insight will pause for this cause for a few days and come back with more and fresh “Insights” on the desires and will of the people. During these journeys, we will constantly be checking our mail inbox (change@herald-goa.com) for your suggestion, information or simply a message to meet when we are in your constituency.
You have to become a part of the process of change-making
When we meet, it will result in an exchange of ideas so that you become a part of the process of change-making. This is what we call real people’s participation in a people’s election where you filter out all the outside noise and focus on the real thing – the voice of the people to be heard through the actual participation of the people in the election process, rather than being numbers and vote banks as a part of a mathematical equation of parties wanting power.
Some of these thoughts are important as a start
A village action plan followed by a constituency action plan: Each village should be a unit of people’s governance which will expand to a cluster of villages and constituencies. While Goa is one, we also need to respect the uniqueness of issues which are village and constituency centric.
For instance beautiful feats are held in villages across Goa which can be big tourist attractions as a part of making tourism more local and village centric, At the same time there are unique festivals and functions in the vicinity of temples like the annual “gulal” of Shri Damodar in Zambaulim to name just one. These are the true essence of Goa.
Economic benefits of village tourism will go directly to people
And when tourism is linked to these feasts and festivals, economic activity from tourism will go directly to people. This will be a good source of income for locals. People should support these initiatives and Herald will be there to see that it happens. And this can happen only if there is a true people’s government.
Even our major towns need to be tourism centric. There are towns on the fringes of bigger towns where there is space to develop tourism spots which allow for music, restaurants adjoining water bodies done in an eco-sensitive sustainable manner. One such example could be Merces on the outskirts of Panjim. These are just talking points for further discussion.
While this is going to be an election for the State, people have to become the change starting from the grassroots i.e. the panchayats. Panchayats have to become self-reliant and self-dependent, with corruption weeded out of the system. But this does not happen across successive terms because the system at the very top doesn’t want a change to a system where those in power get to remain in power by controlling local self-governance both at the panchayat and municipality level.
Village and town plans of the area under one constituency can then be the basis of the constituency plan. This will be the People’s Action Plan of the constituency which is will be more meaningful than a manifesto written by the party and handed over to the people.
This is a direction that only a people’s party selected by the people can take.
Good people need to take the plunge soon or else deal makers will take over
Good people have to jump into politics. If there was ever a time for sons and daughters of the soil to embrace politics, it is now.
There should be a Goa first approach above all else, with the interests of Goa dictating every decision. The heart of every Goan abroad lies here. They know that if we had efficient and people-centric governments in Goa, they would not be forced to leave the country.
Finally chose people who have earned respect and trust in society
Fighting elections is not about money, even though we have a system that dictates exactly that. If the right people’s choices are made and people’s governance is the aim, large sums don’t have to be doled out.
When people participate in this manner, there is no room for transactions and deals.
Over the next few weeks starting tomorrow, please think and plan along these lines. As they say, if you fail to plan, you plan to fail. And that should never be allowed to happen. There is too much at stake.
