Jesuin George Fernandes
All of us want to live in nice comfortable houses, but nobody seems to want the migrant workforce who built them anywhere around. The labour class amongst the migrant population mostly live in slums and provide us the much needed services by taking up jobs that the locals are unwilling to do. Slums are assumed to be breeding grounds for nefarious activities & diseases and it’s quite natural that nobody should want such ‘festering wounds’ in their locality. But what is despicable is the intolerance and bitterness shown by some people to Government initiatives to improve the lot of slum dwellers! Are they not human beings? And don’t our very own people (Goans) who have migrated to the UK and elsewhere benefit from social schemes extended by those countries without discrimination?!
The slum problem needs to be tackled with a humanitarian as well as practical approach without politicizing the issue. Whether we like it or not, we can’t just wish the slums dwellers away! And if we can’t send them away, it’s in our own interest that they live decently. If we don’t provide them with sanitary facilities, they will pollute our land and water resources. If they don’t get basic medical facilities the slums will become hotspots for various diseases. If they are not provided with Educational and employment facilities, they will turn into anti social elements and make life difficult for all of us – the so called decent people!
Politics & Politicians have always been the crux of the slum problem and when election come calling, they seem to compete with each other in appeasing the slum community. One MLA has gone to the extent of talking about things like sanads to get the land title registered in the name of the encroachers so as to facilitate the land transfer to builders who in turn will give free apartments to them. Providing facilities to slum dwellers is one thing, but gifting away community land to those who have illegally grabbed or occupied it sounds like a slap on all law abiding citizens.
Sydney, a bitter critic of such legalizing proposals, recently told me the story of Ram and Shyam who came to Goa some thirty years back in search of employment. After a few days of sleeping in the open, Shyam sensed an opportunity and decided to squat on Communidade land in Zuari. He advised Ram to do the same, but Ram being a honest law abiding fellow preferred to take an old Pigsty (converted into living quarters) on rent and has been residing there ever since. Over the years the crooky Shyam has illegally built five more dwellings for his as many children. Sydney wants to know if it’s fair to legalize Shyam`s illegal dwellings and reward him for his criminal acts. And if the MLAs dreams see the light of the day, Shyam and his progeny will soon be living in high rise apartments overlooking the humble abode of Ram. What kind of a message will such legalizations send across?!
