A Mixed Fare
EDITORIAL
The Budget 2007-08 presented today in the Assembly by the Chief Minister, Mr Pratapsing Rane is neither inclusive nor populist in nature, notwithstanding the many subsidies, waivers and incentives. The major task before the government is to increase the share of agriculture in SDGP to 7.7% in the Eleventh Plan. The budget promises to provide subsidies to farmers for purchasing pumps, etc but evidence is lacking how these are pushing agriculture. The government intends to motivate farmers for cash crop farming away from rice. The prime task to define the land use pattern for paddy has not been undertaken, notwithstanding the government taking up the exercise of carrying out a fresh survey to update the cadastral maps and records of rights in the background of the recent controversy over scrapping of the Regional Plan 2011. It is interesting to watch that at a time when the government intends to increase the share in the GDP, it has opted for small increases in the allocation which invariably would be consumed by the inflationary trend.
Though the government has announced an increase in the financial assistance under Dayanand Social Security Scheme and has opted for waiving loans outstanding taken by the SC community and loans taken by SC /ST for construction of houses, it does not support adequate allocation. The DSS scheme itself would consume substantial budgetary allocation leaving no fund for other social works.
What is intriguing is the proposals to slash allocations for tourism and education. Tourism is important to the state’s economy. It is very essential to boost it in order to generate more avenues for small business and educated and uneducated employment. But its outlay is reduced from Rs 27.63 crore to Rs 23.12 crore. The allocation has been reduced when the number of tourists needs to be increased and besides, the department is planning to diversify in other areas like eco-tourism and medical tourism. The budget is silent on the mechanism as to how to keep the flow of tourists growing. The decline of 7 percent in tourist arrivals was first witnessed in 2004, followed by a decline during the last two years.
The budget has spared people from fresh taxation. It also provides more incentives for government employees. However, it has proposed an environmental cess of 0.5 per cent on the gross value of electricity bill for creating a special garbage management fund. But the budget is silent on the mechanism as to how to tackle the garbage problem which has been lingering for years. It also does not offer much to the industry except the entry tax exemption on machinery and equipment for new units and also to existing units who are investing at least 50 per cent or more on expansion and drawing a separate action plan for infrastructure development like roads, uninterrupted water supply and electricity to industries in consultation with the leaders of commerce and industry.
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
The Right Phrases
The Right Phrases
EDITORIAL
Mr Churchill Alemao’s all attempts to force the Congress leadership to succumb to his pressures have failed, and now seem to be backfiring. The leadership not only rejected his conditions for staying on in the party, but even conveyed to him that he was free to leave the party and could think of a separate future. This came as a jolt to Mr Alemao who made everybody believe that he was indispensable to the Congress and taller than other Congress leaders from South Goa in terms of popularity.
Mr Alemao has no doubt been always an irrepressible and outspoken politician. And like other smart politicos he can mouth the right phrases camouflaging his individual aspirations with public causes. He has been doing that for quite some time while being the Congress MP, but he has looked more like a fish out of water than a Turk who makes the politburo shudder. Choosing “right causes” at the right time is key to the success of a politician. From this angle too, Mr Alemao’s move to convene a meeting of like-minded persons on March 10 to raise the issues of Regional Plan, SEZ land allotment, Roman script and Mopa airport are not going to benefit him much. Even his allegation of misrule under Congress government will not cut much ice. Goa Bachao Abhiyan was formed to fight against the Regional Plan. With government agreeing to scrap the Plan, it would be a tough proposition for Mr Alemao to stretch this. Similar is the case with other issues.
He has not added to his popularity by harping on his demand: Allow me to contest from the Navelim assembly constituency. This has made it sound as though he had some personal scores to settle with Mr Faleiro. While doing so he forgot that it was not at all an issue which should have made the Congress leadership to sit up and think over the pros and cons. How could Mr Alemao forget that any political organisation, based on certain ideology, is above an individual? He should take lessons from political history.
In this background it is doubtful if his plan to lead an organisation that emerges as an alternative would take him very far. The space for alternative is already filled with the BJP and the NCP. It remains to be seen how many will be swayed by his rhetoric. Mr Alemao allowed his aides to float Save Goa Democratic Party in order to put more pressure on the Congress. Would people then have faith in his ideological outpourings? Whose identity the SGDP would try to protect: Goa’s or Mr Alemao’s? Goan identity could have worked for Mr Alemao earlier. In a scenario where all the political parties talk about day in and day out, it is not certain to what extent Mr Alemao will succeed in exploiting this issue.
Mr Alemao must know the success of any issue depends on the people’s acceptability. As it appears that the SGDP is only a forum to contest elections and nothing beyond that. Even the issue of fighting corruption sounds to be merely a boast, as Mr Alemao himself is involved in MPLAD fund scam. How could a leader whose credibility is suspect claim to be in the vanguard against corruption?
EDITORIAL
Mr Churchill Alemao’s all attempts to force the Congress leadership to succumb to his pressures have failed, and now seem to be backfiring. The leadership not only rejected his conditions for staying on in the party, but even conveyed to him that he was free to leave the party and could think of a separate future. This came as a jolt to Mr Alemao who made everybody believe that he was indispensable to the Congress and taller than other Congress leaders from South Goa in terms of popularity.
Mr Alemao has no doubt been always an irrepressible and outspoken politician. And like other smart politicos he can mouth the right phrases camouflaging his individual aspirations with public causes. He has been doing that for quite some time while being the Congress MP, but he has looked more like a fish out of water than a Turk who makes the politburo shudder. Choosing “right causes” at the right time is key to the success of a politician. From this angle too, Mr Alemao’s move to convene a meeting of like-minded persons on March 10 to raise the issues of Regional Plan, SEZ land allotment, Roman script and Mopa airport are not going to benefit him much. Even his allegation of misrule under Congress government will not cut much ice. Goa Bachao Abhiyan was formed to fight against the Regional Plan. With government agreeing to scrap the Plan, it would be a tough proposition for Mr Alemao to stretch this. Similar is the case with other issues.
He has not added to his popularity by harping on his demand: Allow me to contest from the Navelim assembly constituency. This has made it sound as though he had some personal scores to settle with Mr Faleiro. While doing so he forgot that it was not at all an issue which should have made the Congress leadership to sit up and think over the pros and cons. How could Mr Alemao forget that any political organisation, based on certain ideology, is above an individual? He should take lessons from political history.
In this background it is doubtful if his plan to lead an organisation that emerges as an alternative would take him very far. The space for alternative is already filled with the BJP and the NCP. It remains to be seen how many will be swayed by his rhetoric. Mr Alemao allowed his aides to float Save Goa Democratic Party in order to put more pressure on the Congress. Would people then have faith in his ideological outpourings? Whose identity the SGDP would try to protect: Goa’s or Mr Alemao’s? Goan identity could have worked for Mr Alemao earlier. In a scenario where all the political parties talk about day in and day out, it is not certain to what extent Mr Alemao will succeed in exploiting this issue.
Mr Alemao must know the success of any issue depends on the people’s acceptability. As it appears that the SGDP is only a forum to contest elections and nothing beyond that. Even the issue of fighting corruption sounds to be merely a boast, as Mr Alemao himself is involved in MPLAD fund scam. How could a leader whose credibility is suspect claim to be in the vanguard against corruption?
Rave Culture
Rave Culture
EDITORIAL
THE arrest of 250 youths, including 27 girls and some foreigners at a village in Pune from a rave party has certainly not come as a big surprise for the reason that for youngsters rave parties are the most popular form of entertainment. Rave parties are not an unknown commodity for Goa. The origin of rave parties in Goa can be traced back to the 1960’s with the influx of hippies. However the arrest the these youths makes it explicitly clear that the nature of the rave parties has now changed. In fact the rave parties have been the most sought after destinations for free availability of drugs. If these arrests are the indices of the popularity of the rave parties, this also underlines drug addiction has become a culture for the present day youth. Drug use is intended to allegedly enhance ravers’ sensations and boost their energy so they can dance for long periods. Drug addiction in India has of late emerged as a matter of great concern and there are about 3 million estimated victims of different kinds of drug usages. While the traditional moorings about self-restraint, social taboos and self-discipline are fast eroding, the stress for betterment of life in a fiercely competitive world is forcing youth to take refuge in the world of drugs. This is indeed a disastrous situation and the time has come to launch a crusade against the menace turning the families into crusaders.
EDITORIAL
THE arrest of 250 youths, including 27 girls and some foreigners at a village in Pune from a rave party has certainly not come as a big surprise for the reason that for youngsters rave parties are the most popular form of entertainment. Rave parties are not an unknown commodity for Goa. The origin of rave parties in Goa can be traced back to the 1960’s with the influx of hippies. However the arrest the these youths makes it explicitly clear that the nature of the rave parties has now changed. In fact the rave parties have been the most sought after destinations for free availability of drugs. If these arrests are the indices of the popularity of the rave parties, this also underlines drug addiction has become a culture for the present day youth. Drug use is intended to allegedly enhance ravers’ sensations and boost their energy so they can dance for long periods. Drug addiction in India has of late emerged as a matter of great concern and there are about 3 million estimated victims of different kinds of drug usages. While the traditional moorings about self-restraint, social taboos and self-discipline are fast eroding, the stress for betterment of life in a fiercely competitive world is forcing youth to take refuge in the world of drugs. This is indeed a disastrous situation and the time has come to launch a crusade against the menace turning the families into crusaders.
Depriving Goa
Depriving Goa
EDITORIAL
Budget is not only an exercise of fiscal management, but for a developing country like India it is also a mechanism to provide a sustained thrust to the growth process. But the proposal of the Union Finance Minister, Mr P Chidambaram to levy export duty of Rs 300 per tonne on export of all grades of iron ore certainly goes against the budgetary objectives. How could Mr Chidambaram come out with this proposal when he is aware of the nature of the impact his proposal would have at the micro-level growth in a state like Goa? What is really intriguing is Mr Chidambaram has referred to the recommendations of the Hoda Commission to justify his action on the plea of conserving country’s resources and to garner more revenue. In sharp contrast the Hoda Commission has recommended an export duty only for high grade iron ore, that is, iron ore with above 65 per cent Fe content, in lumps only. Moreover the commission does not prescribe any urgent measures to impose any quantitative restrictions on exports: instead it observes that the positions should be revisited after 10 years.
There is no doubt that the budget document does not reflect correct ground realities or real intentions of the government. The share of high grade iron ore to the total iron ore production is not substantial. Obviously any move to raise the export levy would be inflicting injustice to the exporters of the low grade iron ore. Low grade iron ore is not at all used by the domestic steel industry. Once this export duty is levied, low grade iron ore export would turn an unviable business and mineowners and exporters would be left with no other alternative but to disband their business! Obviously it would defeat the government motto to earn more revenue!!
In the era of reforms when other industries are making good profits, why only the mining industry is targeted to collect additional revenue in the form of export duty ? How could it overlook the fact that the cost of low grade iron ore (below 60 per cent Fe content) is below Rs 300 per tonne? Once the export duty is levied the ore prices would go upto $95 per tonne in comparison to $90 a tonne global rate for iron ore. In the existing situation why any country should bother to purchase 26 million tonnes of ore extracted from Goa every year?
No government action could be devoid of a rationale. Since there would be no buyer, the ore would have to be dumped!. It would also have an adverse impact on the tax collection from the state and the employment scene. The Finance Minister ought not to forget that while more than 2 lakh people are directly dependent for their economic sustenance on the mining industry in Goa, it also caters to many ancillary activities. The manner in which the matter is being handled gives the impression that some forces opposed to the interests of Goa are behind it since 60 per cent of the ore is exported by Goa alone to steel companies of Japan, China and South Korea.
It is worth mentioning that most of the big Indian steel producers possess huge captive resource or procure high grade ore but for hiding their inefficiency they have been blaming the higher input cost even though it is lower in comparison to China, Japan, and South Korea. India has huge ore resources, but why is the steel production less than 50 million tonnes? Mr Chidambaram must ensure that the lobby of steel sector which intends to control the ore production does not succeed in its mission.
EDITORIAL
Budget is not only an exercise of fiscal management, but for a developing country like India it is also a mechanism to provide a sustained thrust to the growth process. But the proposal of the Union Finance Minister, Mr P Chidambaram to levy export duty of Rs 300 per tonne on export of all grades of iron ore certainly goes against the budgetary objectives. How could Mr Chidambaram come out with this proposal when he is aware of the nature of the impact his proposal would have at the micro-level growth in a state like Goa? What is really intriguing is Mr Chidambaram has referred to the recommendations of the Hoda Commission to justify his action on the plea of conserving country’s resources and to garner more revenue. In sharp contrast the Hoda Commission has recommended an export duty only for high grade iron ore, that is, iron ore with above 65 per cent Fe content, in lumps only. Moreover the commission does not prescribe any urgent measures to impose any quantitative restrictions on exports: instead it observes that the positions should be revisited after 10 years.
There is no doubt that the budget document does not reflect correct ground realities or real intentions of the government. The share of high grade iron ore to the total iron ore production is not substantial. Obviously any move to raise the export levy would be inflicting injustice to the exporters of the low grade iron ore. Low grade iron ore is not at all used by the domestic steel industry. Once this export duty is levied, low grade iron ore export would turn an unviable business and mineowners and exporters would be left with no other alternative but to disband their business! Obviously it would defeat the government motto to earn more revenue!!
In the era of reforms when other industries are making good profits, why only the mining industry is targeted to collect additional revenue in the form of export duty ? How could it overlook the fact that the cost of low grade iron ore (below 60 per cent Fe content) is below Rs 300 per tonne? Once the export duty is levied the ore prices would go upto $95 per tonne in comparison to $90 a tonne global rate for iron ore. In the existing situation why any country should bother to purchase 26 million tonnes of ore extracted from Goa every year?
No government action could be devoid of a rationale. Since there would be no buyer, the ore would have to be dumped!. It would also have an adverse impact on the tax collection from the state and the employment scene. The Finance Minister ought not to forget that while more than 2 lakh people are directly dependent for their economic sustenance on the mining industry in Goa, it also caters to many ancillary activities. The manner in which the matter is being handled gives the impression that some forces opposed to the interests of Goa are behind it since 60 per cent of the ore is exported by Goa alone to steel companies of Japan, China and South Korea.
It is worth mentioning that most of the big Indian steel producers possess huge captive resource or procure high grade ore but for hiding their inefficiency they have been blaming the higher input cost even though it is lower in comparison to China, Japan, and South Korea. India has huge ore resources, but why is the steel production less than 50 million tonnes? Mr Chidambaram must ensure that the lobby of steel sector which intends to control the ore production does not succeed in its mission.
A Serious Blow for Goa’s Mining Industry
A Serious Blow for Goa’s Mining Industry
by Nandkumar Kamat
As if the injustice done to Goa over the Mhadei water diversion issue was not sufficient the central government has added another insult to the injury. The draconian iron ore export duties announced by the union finance minister is a mortal death blow to Goa’s sixty-year old mining industry. With a single stroke the central government intends to collect about Rs 1100- 1200 crores annually from Goa. Unless it clarifies that the duties are limited to ores with 65 per cent or more Iron content, as originally suggested by Hoda committee, Goa’s mining industry would not get any relief. The logic behind imposition of the export duties is mischievous.
The central government has been totally misled on this issue. It intends to project a demand supply scenario for 2019-2020. But by that time cheaper and durable new materials like Carbon composites and nano technology based , rustproof, flameproof intelligent materials stronger than steel would appear in the market. So there is no guarantee that the current boom in the steel market would be sustainable. The Chinese appetite for Iron ore would be reduced after Beijing Olympics and the completion of the massive three gorges dam project. Demand supply cycles for commodities like steel are unpredictable. Besides, over the time span of next 15 years bio-mining, bio-leaching, bio-beneficiation technologies would be so advanced that most of the Iron ore mines would be using environmental biotechnology. In fact, low-grade ore beneficiation is an area which the central government intends to throw open for foreign mining giants. So the fear of depletion of Iron ore reserves is imaginary. India has proven iron ore deposits of 24 billion metric tonnes (BMT). Of these 50 per cent are haematite ores. The government expects a domestic steel production capacity of 180 million metric tones (MMT) by 2020. The iron ore requirements would be 190 MMT. This demand can be easily met without banning the iron ore exports or imposing export duties.
Australia and Brazil continue to use latest mineral prospecting technologies to discover new iron ore reserves. Billions of tones of Iron ore reserves in India are yet to be discovered. So the argument of Indian steel makers does not hold water. But they have used their well organized lobbying power with the government, political parties and trade unions to create a favourable ground for themselves. Union ministers are making apparently contradictory statements. In July 2006, speaking at Bhubhaneshwar, Orissa, the Union Minister of State for Commerce, Mr Jairam Ramesh had urged the Centre to stop Iron ore exports after 2010. In August 2006, the Steel Minister, Mr Ram Vilas Paswan had also favoured curbs on such exports. Within five months, Mr Ramesh changed his position and took a more realistic view. In his reply to Rajya Sabha question number 201 from CPI-M MP, Mr K Chandran Pillai, on December 6, 2006 Mr Ramesh said: “ India will continue to export iron ore as production outstripped domestic demand and future reserve accretion will suffice to meet projected demand and export obligation. The existing iron ore export policy regulates and promotes judicious use of iron ore for domestic purpose and export of surplus quantity.
Production of iron ore is in excess of current domestic demand. With increased prospecting and exploration and new investment in mining, India’s iron ore reserves will increase to comfortable levels to meet domestic requirement and export obligations. “MPs from Goa must study this statement. India had a surplus of eight million metric tones of iron ore in 2005-06 after meeting the export and domestic demands.
On December 22, 2006 , the Anwarul Hoda high level committee, on the National Mineral policy, submitted its’ report to the Planning Commission. People concerned about the future of mining industry of Goa may download this 307 pages report from Commission’s website. Chapter seven is relevant to iron ore industry and Goa. The Finance Minister conveniently sidetracked all the other issues and only used a single statement from Hoda committee report to announce the export duties. The Committee had concluded: “There is no need to impose any quantitative restrictions on exports but that the position should be revisited after 10 years. However, by way of abundant precaution, the Committee recommends that an export duty may be levied on exports of iron ore in lump form with Fe content above 65 per cent. “Goa’s politicians seem to be making statements without reading this excellent report. Goa government needs to study the Hooda report and do whatever it can do to exclude Goa’s iron ore from export duties and permanently block any move to ban Goa’s iron ore exports in future. There are several favorable points in Hoda committee report to argue the case of Goa’s miners. Hoda report says, “mining sector must grow if the country has to reach a GDP growth rate of above 8 per cent. After many decades of stagnation, international iron ore prices have been at a historically high level over the last two years or so, and the time is not opportune for putting a ban on exports of the commodity.”
Hoda committee opposed ban on iron ore exports. It was of the view that “A restriction on exports would straightaway hit half the iron ore mining industry, and many mines, particularly in the south-western region, may have to close down. In addition, export of iron ore provides employment on a large scale to the people of Goa, Karnataka, as well as in the SME (small and medium enterprises) and larger mines in the eastern and central parts of the country and is a significant catalyst of socio-economic development in the backward and tribal belts.” The committee had assessed the increase in production over the last three years has been mainly from the non-captive SME mines and is export-driven. Apart from mining proper, associated sectors such as transportation, ore handling, minor and major ports, and service providers such as shipping lines and vessel yards all gain from the export activity. Employment-wise, if exports are banned 70,000 persons will become jobless, and due to tertiary sector linkages, at least half a million more would lose their livelihood. For this reason alone, any severe restriction or ban on exports of iron ore is not conceivable.”
As for Goa, the NCAEOR report of 2002 had shown that the net social profit from mining is between Rs 183 to 202 per tonne. For 2005-06 this works out to be Rs 675 crore, or Rs 50000 per capita. The export duty would kill the local mining industry. Trade unions and political parties must therefore oppose the draconian duty. The Goa assembly must pass a strongly worded resolution on this issue to send a right message to the Centre.
by Nandkumar Kamat
As if the injustice done to Goa over the Mhadei water diversion issue was not sufficient the central government has added another insult to the injury. The draconian iron ore export duties announced by the union finance minister is a mortal death blow to Goa’s sixty-year old mining industry. With a single stroke the central government intends to collect about Rs 1100- 1200 crores annually from Goa. Unless it clarifies that the duties are limited to ores with 65 per cent or more Iron content, as originally suggested by Hoda committee, Goa’s mining industry would not get any relief. The logic behind imposition of the export duties is mischievous.
The central government has been totally misled on this issue. It intends to project a demand supply scenario for 2019-2020. But by that time cheaper and durable new materials like Carbon composites and nano technology based , rustproof, flameproof intelligent materials stronger than steel would appear in the market. So there is no guarantee that the current boom in the steel market would be sustainable. The Chinese appetite for Iron ore would be reduced after Beijing Olympics and the completion of the massive three gorges dam project. Demand supply cycles for commodities like steel are unpredictable. Besides, over the time span of next 15 years bio-mining, bio-leaching, bio-beneficiation technologies would be so advanced that most of the Iron ore mines would be using environmental biotechnology. In fact, low-grade ore beneficiation is an area which the central government intends to throw open for foreign mining giants. So the fear of depletion of Iron ore reserves is imaginary. India has proven iron ore deposits of 24 billion metric tonnes (BMT). Of these 50 per cent are haematite ores. The government expects a domestic steel production capacity of 180 million metric tones (MMT) by 2020. The iron ore requirements would be 190 MMT. This demand can be easily met without banning the iron ore exports or imposing export duties.
Australia and Brazil continue to use latest mineral prospecting technologies to discover new iron ore reserves. Billions of tones of Iron ore reserves in India are yet to be discovered. So the argument of Indian steel makers does not hold water. But they have used their well organized lobbying power with the government, political parties and trade unions to create a favourable ground for themselves. Union ministers are making apparently contradictory statements. In July 2006, speaking at Bhubhaneshwar, Orissa, the Union Minister of State for Commerce, Mr Jairam Ramesh had urged the Centre to stop Iron ore exports after 2010. In August 2006, the Steel Minister, Mr Ram Vilas Paswan had also favoured curbs on such exports. Within five months, Mr Ramesh changed his position and took a more realistic view. In his reply to Rajya Sabha question number 201 from CPI-M MP, Mr K Chandran Pillai, on December 6, 2006 Mr Ramesh said: “ India will continue to export iron ore as production outstripped domestic demand and future reserve accretion will suffice to meet projected demand and export obligation. The existing iron ore export policy regulates and promotes judicious use of iron ore for domestic purpose and export of surplus quantity.
Production of iron ore is in excess of current domestic demand. With increased prospecting and exploration and new investment in mining, India’s iron ore reserves will increase to comfortable levels to meet domestic requirement and export obligations. “MPs from Goa must study this statement. India had a surplus of eight million metric tones of iron ore in 2005-06 after meeting the export and domestic demands.
On December 22, 2006 , the Anwarul Hoda high level committee, on the National Mineral policy, submitted its’ report to the Planning Commission. People concerned about the future of mining industry of Goa may download this 307 pages report from Commission’s website. Chapter seven is relevant to iron ore industry and Goa. The Finance Minister conveniently sidetracked all the other issues and only used a single statement from Hoda committee report to announce the export duties. The Committee had concluded: “There is no need to impose any quantitative restrictions on exports but that the position should be revisited after 10 years. However, by way of abundant precaution, the Committee recommends that an export duty may be levied on exports of iron ore in lump form with Fe content above 65 per cent. “Goa’s politicians seem to be making statements without reading this excellent report. Goa government needs to study the Hooda report and do whatever it can do to exclude Goa’s iron ore from export duties and permanently block any move to ban Goa’s iron ore exports in future. There are several favorable points in Hoda committee report to argue the case of Goa’s miners. Hoda report says, “mining sector must grow if the country has to reach a GDP growth rate of above 8 per cent. After many decades of stagnation, international iron ore prices have been at a historically high level over the last two years or so, and the time is not opportune for putting a ban on exports of the commodity.”
Hoda committee opposed ban on iron ore exports. It was of the view that “A restriction on exports would straightaway hit half the iron ore mining industry, and many mines, particularly in the south-western region, may have to close down. In addition, export of iron ore provides employment on a large scale to the people of Goa, Karnataka, as well as in the SME (small and medium enterprises) and larger mines in the eastern and central parts of the country and is a significant catalyst of socio-economic development in the backward and tribal belts.” The committee had assessed the increase in production over the last three years has been mainly from the non-captive SME mines and is export-driven. Apart from mining proper, associated sectors such as transportation, ore handling, minor and major ports, and service providers such as shipping lines and vessel yards all gain from the export activity. Employment-wise, if exports are banned 70,000 persons will become jobless, and due to tertiary sector linkages, at least half a million more would lose their livelihood. For this reason alone, any severe restriction or ban on exports of iron ore is not conceivable.”
As for Goa, the NCAEOR report of 2002 had shown that the net social profit from mining is between Rs 183 to 202 per tonne. For 2005-06 this works out to be Rs 675 crore, or Rs 50000 per capita. The export duty would kill the local mining industry. Trade unions and political parties must therefore oppose the draconian duty. The Goa assembly must pass a strongly worded resolution on this issue to send a right message to the Centre.
The Goan Web
The Goan Web
EDITORIAL
THE Governor, Mr S C Jamir’s address to the Assembly does not provide a clear picture of where Goa is headed. He talked of environment-friendly industrialisation, balanced growth and sustainable employment but did not tell us how his government was going to achieve these objectives. These objectives were a part of Industrial Policy 2003. The 2003 policy document had identified ‘thrust areas’ such as pharmaceuticals, biotech, food processing, agro-based industries, IT and IT-enabled services, tourism and entertainment. For rapid development in these thrust areas, the 2003 document envisaged setting up of pharma, food, wine, biotech, apparel and IT parks and SEZs.
Now that the SEZs are scrapped, we hoped the Governor would give a new direction to the industrial policy in light of this. His statement underlined that giving due respect to people’s feelings and aspirations, the government had written to the central government to denotify the SEZs which are already notified; but he evaded mention of any alternatives for industrial development of the state.
The ‘thrust areas’ specified in the 2003 Industrial Policy were all environment-friendly industries. The present Digambar Kamat government and the preceding Manohar Parrikar government were encouraging development in those thrust areas, but now even these thrust areas are facing opposition – such as IT, food and pharma parks. Where do we go from here? Mr Jamir should have provided us at least the outline of a perspective, if not a full picture, on how industrial development should proceed from here onwards.
Agriculture in the state is on a life support system. Industrialisation is the only formula for meeting the objectives of balanced growth and sustained employment. But what kind of industrialisation, the government is not clear. The government’s vision seems to have been clouded by the omnipresence of vigilantism against any industry. The vigilantes work from the fundamental premise that there is no unemployment problem in the state. A major part of this illusion is created by the history of out-migration of Goans to the Gulf, ships and other locations. The lack of basic wants even among the relatively low-income resident Goan families adds to the illusion. So, we have this great contrast between Goa and other states: while students and youth in other states periodically set up agitations for employment opportunities, those in Goa do not.
The no-unemployment illusion, the anti-industry vigilantism, and now the directionlessness of the government – all taken together will go on transforming Goa fundamentally, without anybody doing anything to stop it. The fundamental transformation that is going on and will go on under these circumstances is characterised by: one, out-migration of Goans for better-paid jobs. When we say better-paid jobs, we do not mean jobs of managers and executives but jobs of lower categories only paid more. What this has done is strengthen the belief in a large mass of Goans that higher education is useless when you can get a good pay for having lower education. This means persistence of low levels of educational and cultural development in the state. Two, the lower categories of jobs in Goa, not taken by Goans, are being taken by in-migrants. Three, as higher education and the competitive examinations that come along with it are despised by a large mass of Goans, even the higher categories of industrial jobs go to in-migrants. The sights of these in-migrants being there up and being there down cause nightmares to resident Goans, preparing fields for vigilantes to step in and reap their emotions. This is a complex web, which is silently transforming Goa bringing in unrecognisable features, and nobody seems to care how to untangle it.
EDITORIAL
THE Governor, Mr S C Jamir’s address to the Assembly does not provide a clear picture of where Goa is headed. He talked of environment-friendly industrialisation, balanced growth and sustainable employment but did not tell us how his government was going to achieve these objectives. These objectives were a part of Industrial Policy 2003. The 2003 policy document had identified ‘thrust areas’ such as pharmaceuticals, biotech, food processing, agro-based industries, IT and IT-enabled services, tourism and entertainment. For rapid development in these thrust areas, the 2003 document envisaged setting up of pharma, food, wine, biotech, apparel and IT parks and SEZs.
Now that the SEZs are scrapped, we hoped the Governor would give a new direction to the industrial policy in light of this. His statement underlined that giving due respect to people’s feelings and aspirations, the government had written to the central government to denotify the SEZs which are already notified; but he evaded mention of any alternatives for industrial development of the state.
The ‘thrust areas’ specified in the 2003 Industrial Policy were all environment-friendly industries. The present Digambar Kamat government and the preceding Manohar Parrikar government were encouraging development in those thrust areas, but now even these thrust areas are facing opposition – such as IT, food and pharma parks. Where do we go from here? Mr Jamir should have provided us at least the outline of a perspective, if not a full picture, on how industrial development should proceed from here onwards.
Agriculture in the state is on a life support system. Industrialisation is the only formula for meeting the objectives of balanced growth and sustained employment. But what kind of industrialisation, the government is not clear. The government’s vision seems to have been clouded by the omnipresence of vigilantism against any industry. The vigilantes work from the fundamental premise that there is no unemployment problem in the state. A major part of this illusion is created by the history of out-migration of Goans to the Gulf, ships and other locations. The lack of basic wants even among the relatively low-income resident Goan families adds to the illusion. So, we have this great contrast between Goa and other states: while students and youth in other states periodically set up agitations for employment opportunities, those in Goa do not.
The no-unemployment illusion, the anti-industry vigilantism, and now the directionlessness of the government – all taken together will go on transforming Goa fundamentally, without anybody doing anything to stop it. The fundamental transformation that is going on and will go on under these circumstances is characterised by: one, out-migration of Goans for better-paid jobs. When we say better-paid jobs, we do not mean jobs of managers and executives but jobs of lower categories only paid more. What this has done is strengthen the belief in a large mass of Goans that higher education is useless when you can get a good pay for having lower education. This means persistence of low levels of educational and cultural development in the state. Two, the lower categories of jobs in Goa, not taken by Goans, are being taken by in-migrants. Three, as higher education and the competitive examinations that come along with it are despised by a large mass of Goans, even the higher categories of industrial jobs go to in-migrants. The sights of these in-migrants being there up and being there down cause nightmares to resident Goans, preparing fields for vigilantes to step in and reap their emotions. This is a complex web, which is silently transforming Goa bringing in unrecognisable features, and nobody seems to care how to untangle it.
Destination Gulf
Destination Gulf
EDITORIAL
The Abu Dhabi Declaration is undoubtedly the first major move to recognise and entrust the joint responsibility of the countries of origin and destination to work to prevent illegal recruitment practices and to promote transparent recruitment and employment policies to safeguard the interest of the temporary labourers. It is also significant that it coincides with the initiative of the government of Goa to curb the activities of the shady operators who are involved in the trade of outflow of manpower to the Gulf countries. The Declaration adopted by 20 countries of origin and destination recognises the ordeals faced by the labourers, particularly from Asia, and pledges to do away with the system of illegal recruitment within three months. One of the key provisions of the Declaration has been to share information on labour market trends and patterns of remittances among the countries and build the ability to effectively match the demand and supply of temporary contractual labour through the entire migratory cycle. No doubt the Declaration is a forward-looking document, which paves the way for the better management of temporary contractual labour mobility. Nevertheless it ought to be borne in mind that a better managed labour mobility is in the interest of country of destination. Since job markets abroad are lucrative and at the same time exploitative, the government of India and also the NRI Affairs panel of Goa should undertake the task of identifying the areas in which greater cooperation to protect the workers interest could be undertaken with the Gulf countries
EDITORIAL
The Abu Dhabi Declaration is undoubtedly the first major move to recognise and entrust the joint responsibility of the countries of origin and destination to work to prevent illegal recruitment practices and to promote transparent recruitment and employment policies to safeguard the interest of the temporary labourers. It is also significant that it coincides with the initiative of the government of Goa to curb the activities of the shady operators who are involved in the trade of outflow of manpower to the Gulf countries. The Declaration adopted by 20 countries of origin and destination recognises the ordeals faced by the labourers, particularly from Asia, and pledges to do away with the system of illegal recruitment within three months. One of the key provisions of the Declaration has been to share information on labour market trends and patterns of remittances among the countries and build the ability to effectively match the demand and supply of temporary contractual labour through the entire migratory cycle. No doubt the Declaration is a forward-looking document, which paves the way for the better management of temporary contractual labour mobility. Nevertheless it ought to be borne in mind that a better managed labour mobility is in the interest of country of destination. Since job markets abroad are lucrative and at the same time exploitative, the government of India and also the NRI Affairs panel of Goa should undertake the task of identifying the areas in which greater cooperation to protect the workers interest could be undertaken with the Gulf countries
Goa’s Educational Excellence
Goa’s Educational Excellence
EDITORIAL
Mr Digambar Kamat is not the first Chief Minister to promote the idea of making Goa a centre of educational excellence. Recent governments too had expressed their commitment to make Goa a preferred destination for students from other states and abroad and also turn it into the most educationally advanced state before the Tenth Five Year Plan comes to an end. But the facts and figures of the State’s Education Department speak otherwise.
If Goa still lacks the basic infrastructure to emerge as a preferred destination for education, much is required to be done to improve the standards of education and make it available uniformly to all. Goa has a literacy rate of 82 per cent but it appears that this perception is based on the initial enrolment in schools as only 30 per cent of the students are able to complete secondary education. It is sad that the government so far has not succeeded in checking dropout at the secondary level which was around 40 per cent even in 2006-07. Unless the objective of providing secondary education to the children in the state is fulfilled it would not be proper to claim that Goa is an educationally advanced state. Significantly sometime back the chairperson of the Goa Knowledge Commission Mr Peter Ronald de Souza had observed, “Goa has the best spread of schools in India. But these are used for half a day.”
In this background let us look at the quality of the education provided by the schools and institutions. A recent survey conducted by the National Council for Education Research and Training (NCERT) on students learning level in government school across India pointed out that the students in Chattisgarh and Goa scored less than 40 per cent The NCERT had checked learning abilities of students on nine aspects of mathematics and also languages and environment sciences. The government should take it as an indicator to improve education and its quality.
There is no doubt that successive governments have not utilized and exploited the opportunities that were available to them. Obviously it would not be wrong to say that if an opportunity is not subjectively perceived and also exploited it cannot be described as an opportunity. Unfortunately Goa is still missing the advantages that come its way. Very little effort has been made to audit education in all respects, nor the education providers. While this has adversely affected the growth of education, it has also paved the path for commercialisation of education.
The magnitude of commercialisation could be gauged from the circular issued by the director of education on January 25, 2008. This asks the unaided schools and institutions to “curb the malpractice” and also to “prevent commercialisation of education”. They have been charging exorbitant fees in contravention of the Goa School Education Rules 1986. Now that it has come to the notice of the government it must act. Providing a composite, quality and inexpensive education is the key to the success of education in Goa and making it the preferred destination for learning, not just providing computers to students.
EDITORIAL
Mr Digambar Kamat is not the first Chief Minister to promote the idea of making Goa a centre of educational excellence. Recent governments too had expressed their commitment to make Goa a preferred destination for students from other states and abroad and also turn it into the most educationally advanced state before the Tenth Five Year Plan comes to an end. But the facts and figures of the State’s Education Department speak otherwise.
If Goa still lacks the basic infrastructure to emerge as a preferred destination for education, much is required to be done to improve the standards of education and make it available uniformly to all. Goa has a literacy rate of 82 per cent but it appears that this perception is based on the initial enrolment in schools as only 30 per cent of the students are able to complete secondary education. It is sad that the government so far has not succeeded in checking dropout at the secondary level which was around 40 per cent even in 2006-07. Unless the objective of providing secondary education to the children in the state is fulfilled it would not be proper to claim that Goa is an educationally advanced state. Significantly sometime back the chairperson of the Goa Knowledge Commission Mr Peter Ronald de Souza had observed, “Goa has the best spread of schools in India. But these are used for half a day.”
In this background let us look at the quality of the education provided by the schools and institutions. A recent survey conducted by the National Council for Education Research and Training (NCERT) on students learning level in government school across India pointed out that the students in Chattisgarh and Goa scored less than 40 per cent The NCERT had checked learning abilities of students on nine aspects of mathematics and also languages and environment sciences. The government should take it as an indicator to improve education and its quality.
There is no doubt that successive governments have not utilized and exploited the opportunities that were available to them. Obviously it would not be wrong to say that if an opportunity is not subjectively perceived and also exploited it cannot be described as an opportunity. Unfortunately Goa is still missing the advantages that come its way. Very little effort has been made to audit education in all respects, nor the education providers. While this has adversely affected the growth of education, it has also paved the path for commercialisation of education.
The magnitude of commercialisation could be gauged from the circular issued by the director of education on January 25, 2008. This asks the unaided schools and institutions to “curb the malpractice” and also to “prevent commercialisation of education”. They have been charging exorbitant fees in contravention of the Goa School Education Rules 1986. Now that it has come to the notice of the government it must act. Providing a composite, quality and inexpensive education is the key to the success of education in Goa and making it the preferred destination for learning, not just providing computers to students.
In Public Interest
In Public Interest
EDITORIAL
While opposing something that may have adverse impact on communities is understandable, opposing should not become such a habit that we start opposing something that is entirely in the interest of the people! Look at the opposition of the south Goa Zilla Panchayat to the introduction of speed governors in heavy vehicles to curb road accidents. Everybody knows why there is opposition to the project from the bus and truck owners and operators as the installation of the equipment would check the speed of the vehicles and make them accountable. But it is difficult to find rationale of the Zilla Panchayat’s protest. How does the introduction of the system impact the functioning of the Zilla Panchayat?
This gives the impression that more than serving the interest of common people, the Zilla Panchayat is concerned over the welfare of the transport lobby. How could the Zilla Panchayat ignore the fact that fatal accidents on roads have registered abnormal rise in recent years due to rash driving? During 2007, 362 people lost their lives in road accidents in comparison to 302 in 2006. In 2005, 243 persons lost their lives. While in 2006, 58 pedestrians were killed, last year 61. Not surprisingly, two-wheeler riders make a large percentage of those who die or get seriously injured. In 2006, 125 riders and 38 pillion riders died. Ensuring road safety is not the responsibility of the government alone. Municipalities, panchayats, corporations and NGOs have to play a proactive role for making roads safe too.
Most people do not have a clear perception of the role and purpose of speed governors. It is an apparatus for limiting the speed of vehicles. The device plugs into the existing wiring system between the vehicle speed sensor(VSS) and the Engine Control Module (ECM). When the device is activated it over-rides the vehicle speed sensor and sends a driver-controlled, alternate speed signal to the computer. The driver sets the speed below the computer-programmed top road speed. The speed can be set within the range of 5 to 75 kmph. The function of governors, whether mechanical or hydraulic, is to control engine speed and correct any change in load applied or removed from the engine. It works on the basic principle of weights against spring pressure.
The main reason for opposition to this device is not the check on the speed of the vehicles, but the apprehension that it will expose the manipulative mechanism in ferrying loads. It is indeed shocking that the transporters for protecting their own interest were willing to sacrifice the people. Since the letters SWVS (single-weight variable speed) would be stamped on the governor identification plate it would become difficult to adopt manipulative methods. How could the south Goa Zilla Panchayat ignore the fact that it was rash driving that was responsible for most gruesome road accident on NH17 at Malpem in which 13 persons were charred alive? The driver of the oil tanker had violated traffic rules by indulging in rash driving at a dangerous bend on the highway. The accident could not perhaps have taken place had the vehicle been fitted with a speed governor.
EDITORIAL
While opposing something that may have adverse impact on communities is understandable, opposing should not become such a habit that we start opposing something that is entirely in the interest of the people! Look at the opposition of the south Goa Zilla Panchayat to the introduction of speed governors in heavy vehicles to curb road accidents. Everybody knows why there is opposition to the project from the bus and truck owners and operators as the installation of the equipment would check the speed of the vehicles and make them accountable. But it is difficult to find rationale of the Zilla Panchayat’s protest. How does the introduction of the system impact the functioning of the Zilla Panchayat?
This gives the impression that more than serving the interest of common people, the Zilla Panchayat is concerned over the welfare of the transport lobby. How could the Zilla Panchayat ignore the fact that fatal accidents on roads have registered abnormal rise in recent years due to rash driving? During 2007, 362 people lost their lives in road accidents in comparison to 302 in 2006. In 2005, 243 persons lost their lives. While in 2006, 58 pedestrians were killed, last year 61. Not surprisingly, two-wheeler riders make a large percentage of those who die or get seriously injured. In 2006, 125 riders and 38 pillion riders died. Ensuring road safety is not the responsibility of the government alone. Municipalities, panchayats, corporations and NGOs have to play a proactive role for making roads safe too.
Most people do not have a clear perception of the role and purpose of speed governors. It is an apparatus for limiting the speed of vehicles. The device plugs into the existing wiring system between the vehicle speed sensor(VSS) and the Engine Control Module (ECM). When the device is activated it over-rides the vehicle speed sensor and sends a driver-controlled, alternate speed signal to the computer. The driver sets the speed below the computer-programmed top road speed. The speed can be set within the range of 5 to 75 kmph. The function of governors, whether mechanical or hydraulic, is to control engine speed and correct any change in load applied or removed from the engine. It works on the basic principle of weights against spring pressure.
The main reason for opposition to this device is not the check on the speed of the vehicles, but the apprehension that it will expose the manipulative mechanism in ferrying loads. It is indeed shocking that the transporters for protecting their own interest were willing to sacrifice the people. Since the letters SWVS (single-weight variable speed) would be stamped on the governor identification plate it would become difficult to adopt manipulative methods. How could the south Goa Zilla Panchayat ignore the fact that it was rash driving that was responsible for most gruesome road accident on NH17 at Malpem in which 13 persons were charred alive? The driver of the oil tanker had violated traffic rules by indulging in rash driving at a dangerous bend on the highway. The accident could not perhaps have taken place had the vehicle been fitted with a speed governor.
The Laxman Rekha
The Laxman Rekha
EDITORIAL
PAKISTAN is one of the most popular metaphors for despotism, and Mr Atanasio Monserrate’s use of the metaphor for Goa may be far too outstretched and purely rhetorical, yet it does seem that some of the policemen crossed the boundaries that are drawn by the law not just for ordinary citizens but also for the enforcers of law in dealing with the situation at the Panaji police station on Tuesday and thereafter. In reality, what happened was revenge. The mob showered stones at policepersons posted at the Panaji police station for a long time, causing bleeding injuries to more than 30 of them, many of them women, and shattering glasspanes of cabins inside the police station. Police resorted to teargas and lathi charge – and would have still remained within the confines of law if they had stopped at that.
But they decided on a revenge. Of course, you have to look at it another way, too. Police and police stations represent the State – that Invisible Power that exists to maintain law and order – and any attack of the scale and kind that took place at the Panaji police station on Tuesday would be seen as an attack on the State. The State seemed to have lost its authority before an agitated mob bent on wantonly and freely attacking the police station. The State had to subdue the mob in order to re-establish its authority.
In short, the policepersons who went berserk after suffering the mob attack for a long time represented not only their vengeful fury against the attackers but also the State that had decided to re-establish its authority. We do not know which minister or superior police officer directed the policepersons who went after the mob and their leaders; nor is it important in seeing it very clearly that the State was behind the policepersons.
And we need to note that both the State and policepersons went overboard and crossed the boundaries of law in some respects. Although it is difficult to say in such situations whether the mob would have melted away and the situation would have become calm on its own with the agitated supporters of Mr Monserrate dispersing all by themselves. The attack on policepersons was brutal and barbaric, and Mr Monserrate’s supporters would have loved to inflict injuries to more policepersons had not the lathi charge and teargassing begun.
Yet, what the policepersons did after that could only be termed as unlawful, excessive and unwarranted. At the Miramar bungalow of Mr Monserrate, all things were shattered and smashed, which could not be justified on any grounds. Mr Monserrate and his wife, Ms Jennifer were beaten up in custody at the police station, which also cannot be justified under any law. Many of the MLAs, both from the ruling as well as opposition camp, have protested against the police ill-treatment of ‘an MLA’. Such protests may amount to suggesting that MLAs never be ill-treated by police, which would be tantamount to demanding a special immunity for MLAs and not bothering whether such immunity is available to ordinary citizens too. The truth is, MLA or non-MLA, the law does not permit police to torture or beat anybody in custody. So, in that sense, we have to condemn the beating of Mr Monserrate, because we do not want beating of anybody in lockup by police. It is plainly contrary to norms of justice, which is based on the principle that a person is innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
So, even if policepersons saw Mr Monserrate lead and incite the mob to shower stones at them ( ‘attempting to murder’ them), they had to arrest and charge and prosecute him in a court of law and prove that he did it and get him punished for that. Policemen cannot assume the role of judges. They cannot usurp the powers of judiciary. At the same time, Mr Monserrate and his apologists have to understand that they cannot assume of the role of policemen. They cannot usurp the powers of the executive.
EDITORIAL
PAKISTAN is one of the most popular metaphors for despotism, and Mr Atanasio Monserrate’s use of the metaphor for Goa may be far too outstretched and purely rhetorical, yet it does seem that some of the policemen crossed the boundaries that are drawn by the law not just for ordinary citizens but also for the enforcers of law in dealing with the situation at the Panaji police station on Tuesday and thereafter. In reality, what happened was revenge. The mob showered stones at policepersons posted at the Panaji police station for a long time, causing bleeding injuries to more than 30 of them, many of them women, and shattering glasspanes of cabins inside the police station. Police resorted to teargas and lathi charge – and would have still remained within the confines of law if they had stopped at that.
But they decided on a revenge. Of course, you have to look at it another way, too. Police and police stations represent the State – that Invisible Power that exists to maintain law and order – and any attack of the scale and kind that took place at the Panaji police station on Tuesday would be seen as an attack on the State. The State seemed to have lost its authority before an agitated mob bent on wantonly and freely attacking the police station. The State had to subdue the mob in order to re-establish its authority.
In short, the policepersons who went berserk after suffering the mob attack for a long time represented not only their vengeful fury against the attackers but also the State that had decided to re-establish its authority. We do not know which minister or superior police officer directed the policepersons who went after the mob and their leaders; nor is it important in seeing it very clearly that the State was behind the policepersons.
And we need to note that both the State and policepersons went overboard and crossed the boundaries of law in some respects. Although it is difficult to say in such situations whether the mob would have melted away and the situation would have become calm on its own with the agitated supporters of Mr Monserrate dispersing all by themselves. The attack on policepersons was brutal and barbaric, and Mr Monserrate’s supporters would have loved to inflict injuries to more policepersons had not the lathi charge and teargassing begun.
Yet, what the policepersons did after that could only be termed as unlawful, excessive and unwarranted. At the Miramar bungalow of Mr Monserrate, all things were shattered and smashed, which could not be justified on any grounds. Mr Monserrate and his wife, Ms Jennifer were beaten up in custody at the police station, which also cannot be justified under any law. Many of the MLAs, both from the ruling as well as opposition camp, have protested against the police ill-treatment of ‘an MLA’. Such protests may amount to suggesting that MLAs never be ill-treated by police, which would be tantamount to demanding a special immunity for MLAs and not bothering whether such immunity is available to ordinary citizens too. The truth is, MLA or non-MLA, the law does not permit police to torture or beat anybody in custody. So, in that sense, we have to condemn the beating of Mr Monserrate, because we do not want beating of anybody in lockup by police. It is plainly contrary to norms of justice, which is based on the principle that a person is innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
So, even if policepersons saw Mr Monserrate lead and incite the mob to shower stones at them ( ‘attempting to murder’ them), they had to arrest and charge and prosecute him in a court of law and prove that he did it and get him punished for that. Policemen cannot assume the role of judges. They cannot usurp the powers of judiciary. At the same time, Mr Monserrate and his apologists have to understand that they cannot assume of the role of policemen. They cannot usurp the powers of the executive.
A Born Leader
A Born Leader
by Trupti Borkar
THE personal assistant of MLA reminded him of the next appointment. Keeping all important assignments aside, he went into the changing room and dressed in a formal attire. Within no time he was ready for the grand occasion. The assistant was anxiously waiting for him along with his friend at the gate. Rather than the MLA, he was more anxious to join the big army of elites that would flock to the ceremony to be held on the occasion of a minister’s birthday.
It was half past six when they reached the minister’s residence. A huge pandal was erected in front of the palatial residence of the minister. It was beautifully decorated and illuminated. Party workers were seen greeting the people right at the linking road leading to pandal and guiding the people. The MLA alighted from the car. The cops posted around escorted him towards the residence. It took almost ten minutes for them due to serpentine queues. Before they could enter the minister’s room, the MLA noticed that he had come empty-ended – not even with a bouquet of flowers.
He brought this fact to the notice of his assistant. For a minute he was confused as it was his responsibility to take precaution of each and every thing concerning the visits of MLA. He knew that if he didn’t act and do something at that juncture, he might lose his job forever. He had no other option than to use his brain and act swiftly to save his master from an embarrassing situation.
Telling the MLA to stay put, the assistant entered into the room where people were extending greetings to the minister on the occasion of his birthday. He noticed that after the bouquets were being presented to the minister, the same were kept into a nearby room by one of the party workers. The room was full of bouquets and garlands. He thought of stealing bouquets from the pile. But that was a bit difficult task. He thought of an idea – he at once summoned his friend at the same place. Then, he directly went and greeted the person who was collecting the bouquet and told him that the CM had just arrived and he wanted you to escort him.
Within no time, the man assigned the duty to the MLA’s assistant and disappeared. In the meantime, the assistant handed over three bouquets to his friend. The idea had worked for him, without wasting a minute, on the pretext of attending a phone call, the assistant left the room and joined his master.
Now they were ready for the occasion. The bouquets were almost ready for the second round of felicitation. After a wait, it was their turn to present the flowers to the minister. His master presented the bouquet to the minister followed by him and his friend. The man who was collecting the bouquet knew the MLA very well. He just happened to see the label affixed to the bouquet and to his utter surprise it was the one which was presented by him to the minister.
He soon realised what had happened. He took the assistant around and said, “I see a future MLA in you.’’ And the prediction has come true. The assistant is one of the MLAs in assembly today.
by Trupti Borkar
THE personal assistant of MLA reminded him of the next appointment. Keeping all important assignments aside, he went into the changing room and dressed in a formal attire. Within no time he was ready for the grand occasion. The assistant was anxiously waiting for him along with his friend at the gate. Rather than the MLA, he was more anxious to join the big army of elites that would flock to the ceremony to be held on the occasion of a minister’s birthday.
It was half past six when they reached the minister’s residence. A huge pandal was erected in front of the palatial residence of the minister. It was beautifully decorated and illuminated. Party workers were seen greeting the people right at the linking road leading to pandal and guiding the people. The MLA alighted from the car. The cops posted around escorted him towards the residence. It took almost ten minutes for them due to serpentine queues. Before they could enter the minister’s room, the MLA noticed that he had come empty-ended – not even with a bouquet of flowers.
He brought this fact to the notice of his assistant. For a minute he was confused as it was his responsibility to take precaution of each and every thing concerning the visits of MLA. He knew that if he didn’t act and do something at that juncture, he might lose his job forever. He had no other option than to use his brain and act swiftly to save his master from an embarrassing situation.
Telling the MLA to stay put, the assistant entered into the room where people were extending greetings to the minister on the occasion of his birthday. He noticed that after the bouquets were being presented to the minister, the same were kept into a nearby room by one of the party workers. The room was full of bouquets and garlands. He thought of stealing bouquets from the pile. But that was a bit difficult task. He thought of an idea – he at once summoned his friend at the same place. Then, he directly went and greeted the person who was collecting the bouquet and told him that the CM had just arrived and he wanted you to escort him.
Within no time, the man assigned the duty to the MLA’s assistant and disappeared. In the meantime, the assistant handed over three bouquets to his friend. The idea had worked for him, without wasting a minute, on the pretext of attending a phone call, the assistant left the room and joined his master.
Now they were ready for the occasion. The bouquets were almost ready for the second round of felicitation. After a wait, it was their turn to present the flowers to the minister. His master presented the bouquet to the minister followed by him and his friend. The man who was collecting the bouquet knew the MLA very well. He just happened to see the label affixed to the bouquet and to his utter surprise it was the one which was presented by him to the minister.
He soon realised what had happened. He took the assistant around and said, “I see a future MLA in you.’’ And the prediction has come true. The assistant is one of the MLAs in assembly today.
Alemao’s Green Signal
Alemao’s Green Signal
EDITORIAL
MR Churchill Alemao’s green signal to the six-lane highway does seem to be a change of heart, for in more ways than one, he has been identified for some time in the past with sections that are opposed to multi-lane highways, be they anywhere to anywhere in Goa. His endorsement does not mean the change of approach of other sections, yet it looks like the beginning of the dawn of the wisdom that multi-lane highways are very crucial to public and private transport, and eventually to the prosperity of Goa.
EDITORIAL
MR Churchill Alemao’s green signal to the six-lane highway does seem to be a change of heart, for in more ways than one, he has been identified for some time in the past with sections that are opposed to multi-lane highways, be they anywhere to anywhere in Goa. His endorsement does not mean the change of approach of other sections, yet it looks like the beginning of the dawn of the wisdom that multi-lane highways are very crucial to public and private transport, and eventually to the prosperity of Goa.
Abysmal Performance
Abysmal Performance
EDITORIAL
Panchayats in the state have failed to utilise Rs 1.75 crore under the Goa Rural Employment Guarantee (GREG) Scheme meant for guaranteeing work to unskilled labour. After the Union government launched the NREG in 2006, the Goa government evolved its own project, GREG. Under GREG, an adult member is entitled to get work within 15 days if he applies for any.
Since the GREG scheme, conceived and fully funded by the Goa government, had identified works to be taken up in minor irrigation, water conservation, desilting of tanks, flood control, land development and rural roads, it reflected the seriousness of the government to meet the challenges of rural poverty. The government had allocated Rs 1 crore in 2006-07 and Rs 75 lakh in 2007-08 for the scheme. So the failure of the panchayats to implement the scheme is beyond comprehension.
If some panchayats did not find any unskilled labourers to be hired under the scheme in their respective areas, the sarpanchas could have informed the state government. But this did not happen. Instead they kept the funds with them idle. This is a kind of misuse of government fund, as the money was locked up. It is also a manifestation of lack of respect among panchayats and their functionaries for government rules and norms. It could also be a manifestation of their indifference to locating, informing and motivating potential beneficiaries of the scheme.
This once again reinforces the findings that panchayats have not performed in ways so as to deserve being known as the true face of rural development. The functionaries of the panchayats are so preoccupied with their vested interest and politicking – passing no-confidence motions – that they seldom find time to think of the common man. In the past few years, several reports on the functioning of panchayats in Goa have suggested that a number of panchayats and the officials who make the panchayats decision-making bodies, are deeply involved in patronising illegal constructions, going to the extent of violating CRZ norms.
Terribly, the indifference to the GREG Scheme has come as an irony at a time when the UPA government at the Centre has decided to extend NREG from the current mandate of 330 districts to cover the entire country. NREG would be launched in Goa on April 1. But with the panchayats in the state busy with their own agenda, how effective they would be in implementing the multicrore scheme is anybody’s guess.
EDITORIAL
Panchayats in the state have failed to utilise Rs 1.75 crore under the Goa Rural Employment Guarantee (GREG) Scheme meant for guaranteeing work to unskilled labour. After the Union government launched the NREG in 2006, the Goa government evolved its own project, GREG. Under GREG, an adult member is entitled to get work within 15 days if he applies for any.
Since the GREG scheme, conceived and fully funded by the Goa government, had identified works to be taken up in minor irrigation, water conservation, desilting of tanks, flood control, land development and rural roads, it reflected the seriousness of the government to meet the challenges of rural poverty. The government had allocated Rs 1 crore in 2006-07 and Rs 75 lakh in 2007-08 for the scheme. So the failure of the panchayats to implement the scheme is beyond comprehension.
If some panchayats did not find any unskilled labourers to be hired under the scheme in their respective areas, the sarpanchas could have informed the state government. But this did not happen. Instead they kept the funds with them idle. This is a kind of misuse of government fund, as the money was locked up. It is also a manifestation of lack of respect among panchayats and their functionaries for government rules and norms. It could also be a manifestation of their indifference to locating, informing and motivating potential beneficiaries of the scheme.
This once again reinforces the findings that panchayats have not performed in ways so as to deserve being known as the true face of rural development. The functionaries of the panchayats are so preoccupied with their vested interest and politicking – passing no-confidence motions – that they seldom find time to think of the common man. In the past few years, several reports on the functioning of panchayats in Goa have suggested that a number of panchayats and the officials who make the panchayats decision-making bodies, are deeply involved in patronising illegal constructions, going to the extent of violating CRZ norms.
Terribly, the indifference to the GREG Scheme has come as an irony at a time when the UPA government at the Centre has decided to extend NREG from the current mandate of 330 districts to cover the entire country. NREG would be launched in Goa on April 1. But with the panchayats in the state busy with their own agenda, how effective they would be in implementing the multicrore scheme is anybody’s guess.
Boosting Wrongdoing
Boosting Wrongdoing
EDITORIAL
IT would be unfortunate if the exhortation of the President, Ms Pratibha Patil for fair but speedy justice ends up as one more rhetoric from political leaders on the issue of judicial reforms. We are far too burdened with backlog of cases in all tiers of the judiciary, so much so that cases take a good part of the litigants’ short life to be decided eventually by the Supreme Court. Many times, cases take years and years even in the lower courts.
The saddest part is that huge delay in a final judicial decision has created an environment in which people are trying to avoid the judicial process. It is a bad commentary on not only our judiciary but also on our democracy, which never tires of affirming equality before law, fair play and justice to all, blah, blah. The truth is an increasing number of citizens dread the thought of approaching the judiciary, because even though they might be sure that they have a strong case against the party they feel wronged by ( say, an individual, a company) they are not sure whether they would get justice within their lifetime. So, there is an increasing number of citizens in this democracy who prefer to suffer injustice rather than go to the judiciary. This cannot be an indicator of the health of justice, can it be? Because if ordinary people dread to approach judiciary, wrongdoers are the ones whose morale is being constantly boosted. Delay in justice is therefore encouraging wrongdoing.
Wrongdoers – strong, shrewd and dominating individuals, groups or organizations – are actually getting a double benefit out of judicial delay. While they get away without punishment for their own crimes because those wronged by them do not approach courts, these strong and powerful forces file cases against those who are poorer and weaker and use judicial delay to harass and persecute them for many, many years. With lawyers’ fees and other costs involved, quite a few of those harassed and persecuted by such litigation give up, which means defeat and surrender. Even if they go on till the last, defeat can come as a consequence of the unequal skills and experience of the lawyers of the two sides. And even if the decision is in their favour, the huge delay would have sometimes made the gains not as much important and relevant to their life as a quicker decision in their favour would have been.
Many times when we glorify our judicial system, reaffirm our faith in judiciary and portray it as ‘the saviour’ we tend to shut our eyes to the fact that an erosion of faith in judiciary is taking place by the effluent called judicial delay. Even though Indians as a whole have faith in the judiciary insofar as their belief that the judiciary is impartial and independent and beyond influences of power or pelf goes, their faith in getting the impartial, independent, unpurchasable and fearless courts to deliver justice fast is being eroded.
Such erosion can only mean perpetuation of injustice and inequity in society and hence be detrimental to judiciary, whose role it is to put an end to injustice and inequity of all kinds. Such erosion can only mean that the strong will become stronger, the powerful become more powerful, the wicked will become more wicked.
That is why we say: Political leaders, stop your rhetoric and implement all those recommendations for judicial reforms that have been gathering dust. We do not say, you have not made efforts. Fast track courts, family courts, labour courts, consumer courts – there are many steps taken to reduce the backlog of cases and speed up disposal of cases. Yet these are not enough. Compared to the size of the problem we have, we have done very little.
EDITORIAL
IT would be unfortunate if the exhortation of the President, Ms Pratibha Patil for fair but speedy justice ends up as one more rhetoric from political leaders on the issue of judicial reforms. We are far too burdened with backlog of cases in all tiers of the judiciary, so much so that cases take a good part of the litigants’ short life to be decided eventually by the Supreme Court. Many times, cases take years and years even in the lower courts.
The saddest part is that huge delay in a final judicial decision has created an environment in which people are trying to avoid the judicial process. It is a bad commentary on not only our judiciary but also on our democracy, which never tires of affirming equality before law, fair play and justice to all, blah, blah. The truth is an increasing number of citizens dread the thought of approaching the judiciary, because even though they might be sure that they have a strong case against the party they feel wronged by ( say, an individual, a company) they are not sure whether they would get justice within their lifetime. So, there is an increasing number of citizens in this democracy who prefer to suffer injustice rather than go to the judiciary. This cannot be an indicator of the health of justice, can it be? Because if ordinary people dread to approach judiciary, wrongdoers are the ones whose morale is being constantly boosted. Delay in justice is therefore encouraging wrongdoing.
Wrongdoers – strong, shrewd and dominating individuals, groups or organizations – are actually getting a double benefit out of judicial delay. While they get away without punishment for their own crimes because those wronged by them do not approach courts, these strong and powerful forces file cases against those who are poorer and weaker and use judicial delay to harass and persecute them for many, many years. With lawyers’ fees and other costs involved, quite a few of those harassed and persecuted by such litigation give up, which means defeat and surrender. Even if they go on till the last, defeat can come as a consequence of the unequal skills and experience of the lawyers of the two sides. And even if the decision is in their favour, the huge delay would have sometimes made the gains not as much important and relevant to their life as a quicker decision in their favour would have been.
Many times when we glorify our judicial system, reaffirm our faith in judiciary and portray it as ‘the saviour’ we tend to shut our eyes to the fact that an erosion of faith in judiciary is taking place by the effluent called judicial delay. Even though Indians as a whole have faith in the judiciary insofar as their belief that the judiciary is impartial and independent and beyond influences of power or pelf goes, their faith in getting the impartial, independent, unpurchasable and fearless courts to deliver justice fast is being eroded.
Such erosion can only mean perpetuation of injustice and inequity in society and hence be detrimental to judiciary, whose role it is to put an end to injustice and inequity of all kinds. Such erosion can only mean that the strong will become stronger, the powerful become more powerful, the wicked will become more wicked.
That is why we say: Political leaders, stop your rhetoric and implement all those recommendations for judicial reforms that have been gathering dust. We do not say, you have not made efforts. Fast track courts, family courts, labour courts, consumer courts – there are many steps taken to reduce the backlog of cases and speed up disposal of cases. Yet these are not enough. Compared to the size of the problem we have, we have done very little.
Building A Culture Of Sanity, Sensibility
Building A Culture Of Sanity, Sensibility
by Nandkumar Kamat
ALTHOUGH the Congress party pledged to form a state human rights commission (SHRC) in its 2007 assembly election manifesto, there is hesitation on the part of the state government. I tried to impress on the CM, Mr Kamat the urgent need of having such a commission exclusively for Goa but there is a fear among a certain section of the politicians that the SHRC may create trouble for them. I wrote an article in this column to champion SHRC. But there was no support from the politicians, the NGOs, the activists and the intellectuals. So it was a pleasant surprise that, suddenly none other than the MLA of Taleigao, Mr Monserrate should come out with a demand in this regard after getting a bitter personal taste of the high handedness of the police.
He has seen for himself how the state can overstep certain norms and how it can mistreat even innocent family members not connected with the issue. If he now champions the case of SHRC it would be good for Goa. Over past few years I have seen the traumatization and the brutalization of the Goan society. The human rights of common people and the politicians are not different. Readers may recall the protests by two environmental activists at Santa Inez who were merely protesting peacefully against the slaughter of a mango tree which stood in the middle of the road. Despite their appeal to save the tree they were ordered to be arrested. Their constitutional duties under article 51 and human rights were not respected. The misaligned traffic circle which has now come up in the place of the slaughtered tree has become a virtual death trap. So what was then really achieved by cutting the tree and ordering the arrest of law abiding citizens?
Absurdity is the other name of Goa’s politics if we see the nature of the events which took place last week in Panaji and Taleigao and if we analyse the various types of remarks and statements issued by politicians of different colours. They are slowly poisoning the Goan body politic with the virus of violence. There was total intelligence failure on the part of the Goa police. It appears that there are more paid informers of the underworld of Goa inside the Goa administration than the informers paid or planted by the police to keep a watch on the movements of anti-social elements. No lessons have been learnt from the shameful and notorious anti muslim riots which had taken place at Sanvordem. Otherwise it is difficult to explain the unpreparedness of Panaji Police to pre-emptively face the violent mob which took almost an hour to march from Taleigao to the Panaji Police station. I can sum up the past week’s incidents in just one sentence- the forces created by the parallel economy of Goa have now come of age. The system legitimatised by the post statehood Goan society is responsible for such events. Once the money from parallel economy begins to flow in politics it creates extraordinary –‘ larger than life’ personalities. Actually the state government should have gladly accepted the demand for judicial inquiry into the whole incident because it would have also given the people an opportunity to come forward and expose various networks.
However, the government may not yield to this demand because the judicial inquiry may throw up several findings unpalatable to the politicians and the bureaucracy. The genesis of last week’s violent incidents lies in the culture of extortionism which is spreading its’ tentacles in Goa. It would only breed more and more violence. Common people do not feel secure under such an environment influenced by ruthless people having their roots in parallel economy. The state also has created a culture of discrimination, partiality and favoritism. If the well wishers of late photojournalist, Sushant Naik were not to peacefully storm the Panaji police station it is doubtful whether the police would have ever arrested the prime suspect.
The Goa Police have often failed to record the genuine complaints of people harassed or looted by anti social elements. Many such troublemakers roam freely without the police ever taking them into custody. But the common man is powerless. He would think ten times before gathering a mob and marching to a police station. Despite the legendary mistrust the people of Goa still respect the men in Khaki. But the future is uncertain. The men in Khaki are supposed to be protectors of the human rights of people as well as the politicians. Past week’s incidents have shown that the Police may be more interested in protecting themselves and in projecting their power instead of focusing their energies on crime prevention. The powerful parallel economy of Goa has grown to monstrous proportions under their very nose. That’s why the crime prevention has been unsuccessful in Goa. On the contrary forces created by the parallel economy are now striking at the very roots of the state.
The police need a moral fiber stronger than the politicians to strike at the very roots of this virus in a consistent and non compromising manner. Merely retaliating against an ex-minister, a mayor and a Zilla panchayat ex chairman- which are relatively soft targets indicates that the Police themselves are in dark about the real forces which are creating such situations. These forces have become so powerful that governance in Goa has now become a residual function under their influence. It is a nightmarish situation which neither the leaders of Congress, NCP, BJP or MGP, UGDP would admit. A change in the government would not automatically change the landscape of the crime or the contours of the parallel economy. The next attack on some other police station may be more violent and brutal. There is no mechanism in Goa which is strong enough to prevent recurrence of such violent incidents.
The solution for a society drifting towards violence is to usher in a culture of sanity and sensibility. That’s precisely the constitutional mandate given to the national and state human rights commissions. It is not important that badly shaken by the Police overreaction Mr Monserrate has now turned a champion for SHRC. People, politicians and police all have human rights-and none are above the constitution of India and the laws. The past week’s violent incidents need to open the eyes of the government. Goa can not be allowed to drift further and slide in the abyss of mindless violence either by the mobs or the Police. A system of checks and balances need to be installed. That’s why there is no substitute for a Goa state human rights commission. Its’ very formation would initiate a culture of sanity and sensibility.
by Nandkumar Kamat
ALTHOUGH the Congress party pledged to form a state human rights commission (SHRC) in its 2007 assembly election manifesto, there is hesitation on the part of the state government. I tried to impress on the CM, Mr Kamat the urgent need of having such a commission exclusively for Goa but there is a fear among a certain section of the politicians that the SHRC may create trouble for them. I wrote an article in this column to champion SHRC. But there was no support from the politicians, the NGOs, the activists and the intellectuals. So it was a pleasant surprise that, suddenly none other than the MLA of Taleigao, Mr Monserrate should come out with a demand in this regard after getting a bitter personal taste of the high handedness of the police.
He has seen for himself how the state can overstep certain norms and how it can mistreat even innocent family members not connected with the issue. If he now champions the case of SHRC it would be good for Goa. Over past few years I have seen the traumatization and the brutalization of the Goan society. The human rights of common people and the politicians are not different. Readers may recall the protests by two environmental activists at Santa Inez who were merely protesting peacefully against the slaughter of a mango tree which stood in the middle of the road. Despite their appeal to save the tree they were ordered to be arrested. Their constitutional duties under article 51 and human rights were not respected. The misaligned traffic circle which has now come up in the place of the slaughtered tree has become a virtual death trap. So what was then really achieved by cutting the tree and ordering the arrest of law abiding citizens?
Absurdity is the other name of Goa’s politics if we see the nature of the events which took place last week in Panaji and Taleigao and if we analyse the various types of remarks and statements issued by politicians of different colours. They are slowly poisoning the Goan body politic with the virus of violence. There was total intelligence failure on the part of the Goa police. It appears that there are more paid informers of the underworld of Goa inside the Goa administration than the informers paid or planted by the police to keep a watch on the movements of anti-social elements. No lessons have been learnt from the shameful and notorious anti muslim riots which had taken place at Sanvordem. Otherwise it is difficult to explain the unpreparedness of Panaji Police to pre-emptively face the violent mob which took almost an hour to march from Taleigao to the Panaji Police station. I can sum up the past week’s incidents in just one sentence- the forces created by the parallel economy of Goa have now come of age. The system legitimatised by the post statehood Goan society is responsible for such events. Once the money from parallel economy begins to flow in politics it creates extraordinary –‘ larger than life’ personalities. Actually the state government should have gladly accepted the demand for judicial inquiry into the whole incident because it would have also given the people an opportunity to come forward and expose various networks.
However, the government may not yield to this demand because the judicial inquiry may throw up several findings unpalatable to the politicians and the bureaucracy. The genesis of last week’s violent incidents lies in the culture of extortionism which is spreading its’ tentacles in Goa. It would only breed more and more violence. Common people do not feel secure under such an environment influenced by ruthless people having their roots in parallel economy. The state also has created a culture of discrimination, partiality and favoritism. If the well wishers of late photojournalist, Sushant Naik were not to peacefully storm the Panaji police station it is doubtful whether the police would have ever arrested the prime suspect.
The Goa Police have often failed to record the genuine complaints of people harassed or looted by anti social elements. Many such troublemakers roam freely without the police ever taking them into custody. But the common man is powerless. He would think ten times before gathering a mob and marching to a police station. Despite the legendary mistrust the people of Goa still respect the men in Khaki. But the future is uncertain. The men in Khaki are supposed to be protectors of the human rights of people as well as the politicians. Past week’s incidents have shown that the Police may be more interested in protecting themselves and in projecting their power instead of focusing their energies on crime prevention. The powerful parallel economy of Goa has grown to monstrous proportions under their very nose. That’s why the crime prevention has been unsuccessful in Goa. On the contrary forces created by the parallel economy are now striking at the very roots of the state.
The police need a moral fiber stronger than the politicians to strike at the very roots of this virus in a consistent and non compromising manner. Merely retaliating against an ex-minister, a mayor and a Zilla panchayat ex chairman- which are relatively soft targets indicates that the Police themselves are in dark about the real forces which are creating such situations. These forces have become so powerful that governance in Goa has now become a residual function under their influence. It is a nightmarish situation which neither the leaders of Congress, NCP, BJP or MGP, UGDP would admit. A change in the government would not automatically change the landscape of the crime or the contours of the parallel economy. The next attack on some other police station may be more violent and brutal. There is no mechanism in Goa which is strong enough to prevent recurrence of such violent incidents.
The solution for a society drifting towards violence is to usher in a culture of sanity and sensibility. That’s precisely the constitutional mandate given to the national and state human rights commissions. It is not important that badly shaken by the Police overreaction Mr Monserrate has now turned a champion for SHRC. People, politicians and police all have human rights-and none are above the constitution of India and the laws. The past week’s violent incidents need to open the eyes of the government. Goa can not be allowed to drift further and slide in the abyss of mindless violence either by the mobs or the Police. A system of checks and balances need to be installed. That’s why there is no substitute for a Goa state human rights commission. Its’ very formation would initiate a culture of sanity and sensibility.
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