They will promise everything ‘free’ and then make you ‘pay’ for your choice

Much before the Oscar-winning movie, ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ was released, Goa had Slumlord Millionaires. They are well-known politicians across Salcete, Tiswadi, Mormugao, Bardez and Ponda among others. All they had to do is capture the slum vote and win in the constituency. 

The free-politics: Are you aware that slum politics gives migrants in Goa’s towns everything that locals don’t get easily?

Across Moti Dongor in Margao, Zuari Nagar in Mormugao (Dabolim), Camrabhat in Taleigao, large areas of urban Ponda and the different waddos of Mapusa and even in places like Sangolda slum dwellers have got everything.

Power & water bills paid – Politicians have letterboxes where you can drop your electricity bills which get paid.

School fees paid: The same goes for school fees. Simply give details of the amount to be deposited and those of the child. The work is done.

Politicians know the value of slum votes. BUT DO THEY VALUE THE VOTERS?

Close to 30% of Goa’s voting population come from slums or are migrants. In Moti Dongor, Margao around 8000 to 9000 votes out of the 23,000 (approximately) go directly to the winning MLA. In a previous regime the District administration had to actually go to the slums to get their ration cards and other documentations done. In Mapusa out of the 30,000 voters 5,000 plus are migrants whose vote will play a big part in winning and losing.

The question is, do they always deliver on your basic civic needs?

In Zuari Nagar, the MLA and Minister always wins on the basis of slum votes. Before the last elections, he had promised a community centre, toilet facilities, market complex, health centre and an integrated housing and slum development programme. Four years later are these facilities there?

In Camrabhat Taleigao, the power centre allows slum dwellers to construct shanties on power lines and water pipelines, but they don’t have proper toilets.

And the big question: Why were these promised for migrants in slums and not for local Goans? DON’T THEY MATTER?

The case of toilets: All promises are flushed down the drain. 

In each slum there are thousands who defecate in the open, the sewage gets dumped into water bodies, that water enters fields and farms. Yet in most panchayats and urban bodies, money under central schemes are accepted but no toilets are made. There is a big toilet scam in most places, police complaints are lodged by no action taken.

But before elections, even that is taken care of

In Zuarinagar, before the 2017 elections, politicians even donated toilets for the residents with the claim that if they are voted to power, they would find a solution to open defecation in Zuarinagar either by providing community toilets or individual toilets. In fact, a major political party had distributed two manifestos in Zuarinagar. One for Goa and the other for slums

SO YOU HAVE SLUMS ALL OVER TOWN, FIELDS ARE DISAPPEARING, IS THIS THE DEVELOPMENT YOU WANT?

Across Goa, do you agree that the value of the vote of the Goan is going down? And why is that happening? That is because Goans have either moved out of Goa and India and no longer vote or don’t have Indian passports. But perhaps even more importantly, the Goans who are here are not choosing the right candidates based on what they and Goa needs. 

At the same time those who are voting by becoming slaves should also ask: 

IS YOUR VOTE FOR YOU VOTE BANK GIVING YOU A BETTER GOA?

But this strategy of keeping you dependent is not limited to slums.

There is a story one heard recently. A gentleman who was a regular visitor to the Philippines and spent time there, once met the Governor of one of the regions and asked him how come there were no protests and revolts in his area. His reply was interesting. “When people are hungry and trying to find food, will they have the time to revolt?

Think about that in Goa’s context.

The whole exercise is to corner you into a slave mentality, instead of making you self-reliant

If you have free ration delivered to you by a political party, instead of ensuring that all ration shops are open and distribute ration regularly to everyone without scams, will you be bothered? 

We will have a population which is happy not to work and not even demand facilities that are due to them. The urge to have small businesses, develop skills, work hard and earn will be totally taken away. People will not question if basic facilities like public rations and health are not provided. Because rations are coming home.

WILL YOU THEN HAVE A FUTURE OF SELF RELIANCE AND SELF WORTH? OR WILL YOU JUST BE A SLAVE TO A PARTY AND SYSTEM?

This is something you must understand. It is time to see through promises that are never really fulfilled. When Manohar Parrikar became Chief Minister, he said it was easy to keep petrol prices the lowest in India by taking some smart decisions. Prices went up and up and today, it is almost Rs 100.

Are you ready to keep gimmicks away by not falling onto these traps?

People should remember that they are fighting for the legacy of Goa. To preserve Goa because of the sacrifices, our forefathers made. It is because of them that we are here. We have institutions, we can go to the courts to stop illegal mining.

If you fall for false promises or schemes that will make you slaves, you will also sacrifice the precious legacy that  your forefathers  protected.