In cricket as much as in politics, there is something called a healthy problem. The Indian team at any given point in time can simultaneously field three international teams, so much is talent available. But it all boils down to each player in the team playing for the team. There is healthy competition to get into each team in the spirit of sportsmanship, not to plot and out and get someone off the team
The BJP in Goa has a brute majority. The process of attaining it has been discussed deliberated and critiqued. The underlying principle here always will be that there must be “availability” either in a supermarket or in a relationship.
Most issues concerning people can be solved in the beginning if there is openness
With 33 MLAs, for “development” Pramod Sawant has the arsenal not just to do well, but more importantly do good and do right. And this is way beyond morality. This could be good politics too. Here’s why.
If you look at the maximum forced engagement that the government has to do with people after decisions are taken, more than half of these issues could get addressed at the pre-decision stage, enough to ward off direct confrontation, protests, and police cases.
Most of these flashpoints, be it the anti-double tracking protests at Chandor or the anti-usurping of traditional lands for the IIT in Sanguem (it’s not an anti-IIT agitation) boil down to a visible perception that the system is against those in the grassroots and wants to crush their views because corporate or other interests.
If there is dialogue, there will be less conflict
Double tracking issue: People are not fundamentally opposed to progress or development. It’s just that they want to be beneficiaries of that development without incurring losses or getting the basic comforts of living diminished to the point of being a struggle. And that is where it all starts.
For instance, the core of the anti-double tracking agitation from the people’s perspective (apart from the serious issue of pollution while transporting coal) among many people in coastal south Goa was how much the double tracking would eat into the access of their homes, damage walls due to the vibration of the trains running on tracks in front of their homes and the coal dust entering their houses.
While the double-tracking project cannot be justified to the people on any account, if these issues were addressed, the space to carry on dialogues in a less heated manner would have been created
Mobile tower issue: “Panchayats have no role to play and “third party” (people) can’t take the law into their hands”
The government is on a spree to roll out more mobile towers across the state and the task is being carried out by a mobile tower construction and installation company across towns and villages in Goa.
There is nothing fundamentally incorrect about this. However, the minutes of the meeting held on June 22, outlining the rollout plan revealed that the nodal agency for the project is PWD with “no third party allowed to take law in their hands to stop construction of the mobile tower and if anyone does so, strict action would be initiated against them by the appropriate authority”.
The minutes also mentioned “No permission is contemplated from Village panchayat or any other authority for installing mobile towers”.
This led to several agitations and protests across villages with the recent one as Sao Jose de Areal becoming very intense after the authorities threatened to file FIRs against people,
But here Pramod Swant made the right move and responded correctly. After the intervention of his local leaders, his government told the tower company not to go ahead and erect a mobile tower right inside a school for infants.
All that was needed to make a change in the Goa Telecom Policy saying the panchayat will be consulted with regard to the location of the tower. And also, do not refer to people and protesters as “third party”.
This is a typical legal term, and it could be better phrased stating that an extensive awareness campaign will be undertaken, and people’s views will be heard with the final decision resting with the government, with the panchayat having a say in the location of the tower.
The spirit of the 73rd Amendment should be respected at all times and local self-government’s role should be accepted.
The Sanguem farmer’s agitation against the “takeover of farmlands” for the IIT projects
The State needs an IIT not only to further excellence but to encourage more students from Goa to take the entrance exams, knowing that they have a world-class institution right at their doorstep.
The protests are against what is perceived to be the “bulldozing” by which farmers allege their farmlands which can be cultivated back are being taken over to add to the land bank for IIT.
Therefore, when protesters are arrested or stopped on their way to Panjim, the bridge between people and the system is broken.
There are a rising number of cases filed against people who have been protesting for a public cause in Goa, and when more such cases rise, bridges go on breaking.
The CM and the government have shown that they can step into course correct. This should be a norm rather than an exception
The government scrapped the draconian amendments to the land and building construction rules which would urbanize all our villages. While the amendments were uncalled for, a quick retreat needs to be commended especially with the government willing to engage and take on board professionals like urbanist Vinayak Bharne, who has put forth a people-participative approach to holistic planning. These are steps in the right direction.
Govt’s will at times take decisions to give them political mileage, and that’s okay as long as they are not anti-people
Using a majority to amend rules to help them politically is not advisable but it is less of an issue than taking decisions that affect people’s lives, and comfort zones. Dr Pramod Sawant is young and has a long life ahead in politics. He will also be looking to create a legacy of leadership that will be his own.
While the chair came to him in unhappy circumstances, he did take his party to power in 2022, in the manner in which elections are fought and won in this country for all parties.
The difference he can make is to show himself to be a leader with empathy and inclusivity and a genuinely interested in taking people into confidence through dialogue, even when tough decisions need to be taken.
People’s opposition takes time to handle and takes away time for genuine growth and progress issues which is what any Government would be naturally far more serious about.
