Goan Observer - Weekly News Portal

Walking the road to change

goanobserver — Sat, 18 May 2013 09:26:29 +0000

By Azera Parveen Rahman

The Musahar women in Uttar Pradesh are standing up to the repression they face.

THE TERM ‘musahar’ literally translates to ‘rat eaters’. The community that bears that name in the eastern districts of Uttar Pradesh, bordering Bihar, comprises mostly landless agricultural workers. The 700,000 musahars in Uttar Pradesh occupy not just one of the lowest tiers in the caste hierarchy, they are among the poorest communities as well.

This leaves them open to discrimination and repression at all levels. Women, in particular, have to cope both with the tribulations meted out to the community at large as well as suffer violent husbands.

Lakshmi, 22, of Dahri Patti village in Kushinagar district, is a young mother of two children, a boy and girl. Reed thin, she reveals hesitantly that she is abused regularly. As she watches her three-year-old son eat the first of his two meals in a day, which consists of rice, watery dal and salt, she whispers, “He slaps me sometimes.” What is striking about Lakshmi’s words is the attempt she makes to justify her husband’s violence, “He gets tired after working in the field all day, and drinks alcohol to relax. Once he is drunk, he hits me at the slightest pretext, even if the food does not taste good. The next morning he is fine, and has forgotten everything.”

FAMILIAR STORY

THIS is a familiar story in the predominantly musahar village of Dahri Patti. Illiterate and unaware that the country has a law in place against domestic violence, Lakshmi reveals that she makes no attempt to stop the violence. Pooja Devi, who hails from the same village, explains why this is the case, “If our husbands throws us out of our homes, where can we go? Where will we keep my children? How will we feed ourselves?”

Durga, a member of the community, who also works as a local resource person for ActionAid, an anti-poverty civil society organisation, observes, “The most common reason for domestic violence is alcoholism. The money that the women earn can also be source of friction. If a woman refuses to part with her earnings - mostly because she wants to give her children a better deal in life - she is beaten.”

Interestingly, almost 80% of Musahar women in this region work outside their homes as daily wagers or agricultural workers. They earn meager amounts - sometimes as low as Rs 15 a day - but quietly accept whatever is given to them, grateful that they can supplement the family income in some way.

Where basic survival is a struggle for the community, health is accorded the lowest priority. Most of the musahar families here live in dilapidated mud houses, measuring barely 12 square feet. Early marriage means that families are large, with children arriving in quick succession, leaving their mothers emaciated and anaemic.

The children face health risks right from the moment of their birth. Given the unsanitary conditions in which they live, they are susceptible to water-borne diseases like diarrhoea, and the like. Lack of toilets is also one of the reasons for the high levels of sexual violence here. Qayamuddin Ansari, pradhan (village headman) of Dahri Patti and a few other small villages, admits that musahar women are often molested when they go to the fields to relieve themselves. The solution, he argues, lies in changing attitudes. “Many musahar houses don’t have toilets. But even those families that do have toilets built under the Indira Awas Yojana continue to go to the fields. The community has to understand for itself the importance of toilets, otherwise nothing will change,” he says.

Sexual harassment is a common experience here. Ask the Musahar women of benuapur village in Kushinagar district, and they will tell you that even young girls are not spared. Recounts Savita Devi, an elderly woman from Benuapur, “It’s very common for our girls to get teased, harassed, touched by men of other communities as soon as they step out of the village. Four years ago, a girl from a neighbouring village was kidnapped by three men. They kept her locked up in a room and assaulted her. They threatened to kill her if she complained. Three days later, she was left in a relative’s home, but was just too terrified to approach the police.”

APATHY

THIS incident underlined not just the general lack of security for women and young girls, but the total apathy of the law enforcing agencies. Shiv Prasad, a resident of Benuapur is direct, “The police don’t bother about our complaints because we don’t have any influence. Often they shoo us off like cattle when we approach them to lodge a complaint. But it is important that we persist, only then can we hope to get some justice.”

The case of Indravati Devi, wife of an agricultural labourer from Jungle Pachrukhiya Gram Sabha, seems to underline the wisdom of his words. A piece of land was allotted to her under a land redistribution scheme. Four summers ago, when she had gone to her plot to attend to some work, she saw a few men on a tractor attempting to raze the crops on the land and usurp it.

“I raised an alarm as soon as I saw them. Hearing my screams, a few other women from my village came running and we rushed toward them. One of the men even told his associates, ‘Kill these musahar women and we will see what the police does!’ They then started beating us up, one man even drew out a knife,” she recounts.

According to Indravati’s account, the women somehow managed to escape and rushed to the police station to lodge a FIR. The men were caught by the police, but were soon let off. The women however complained again. The men were apprehended once again and then released again - clearly money had changed hands. Later, the police turned up at the village with the offer of an out-of-court settlement, but the women did not relent.

With the help of a local non-government organisation (NGO), the Musahar Manch, villagers then staged a sit-in protest in front of the police station until the FIR was lodged under the relevant IPC sections, including the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act and the victims were compensated.

The incident is a pointer to change within the Musahar community, especially among the women who are now slowly becoming aware of their rights and adopting various strategies to protect themselves. For instance, wherever they have to go to the fields to relieve themselves, or for work, they go in a group. They have also begun to participate in government programmes like the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA), and seek the help of NGOs to bridge the divide between themselves and the ruling elite.

Says Debabrat Patra, Regional Manager of ActionAid India in Lucknow, “Our aim is to help the community become more aware of their rights and learn to assert them. So, initially, when we started working with them about eight years ago, we used to take up their cases. Now they have started fighting on their own for their entitlements, and that is a hopeful sign.”

There is indeed hope when Durga, of Benuapur village, states with quiet resolve, “Politicians depend on us for their positions in power. Although they promise us a great deal, nothing really changes. So now we know we have to fight for our own cause. We will no longer be a voiceless or invisible community.”

© Women’s Feature Service

Travellers bemoan ticket price hike

goanobserver — Sat, 18 May 2013 08:54:51 +0000

By Nida Sayed

Lamenting that travel and stay in Goa is already expensive, tourists say hikes in bus tickets will deter them from travelling to the state.

EARLY THIS week, the All India Motor Transport Congress (AIMTC) and the Goa interstate bus operators protested against the government of Goa’s decision to levy an entry tax (ranging between Rs 100 to 1000 per vehicle per trip) on all heavy commercial vehicles. A strike was called by president of AIMTC, Bal Malkit Singh, to protest against the entry tax that was being imposed upon them. Singh had warned that buses would be stopped at the border check posts.

Panic struck among passengers who had come down to Goa for the weekend as they were in doubt whether they would reach home or not. While some had to resume school/college, others had to report to their work places. A few commuters were seen stranded across the Panaji bus stand on May 13, 2013.

For tourists, buses are not only a popular means of transport, but economically convenient as well. “That’s why people opt for it,” said a college student from Mumbai, “We come here with a certain budget and if it exceeds this, then we’d rather not come by bus.”

WEEKEND TRIP

JOVITA Estibeiro came from Bangalore for the weekend to enjoy Kingfisher’s Final Wave 2013. “About 30-35 of us came to party for Final Wave,” she informed. “When we arrived to Goa less than a week ago, the bus fare was only Rs 680; to return, the operators are asking for Rs 1000. I have relatives here in Goa so I was given a heads up about the bus strike. We have to be back in Bangalore by tomorrow morning by hook or crook. Some of us have classes while many others have exams this week.

“Some of my friends took a bus from Mapusa. It was non-AC, but at least it’s taking them home. We decided to take a bus from Panjim. We arrived at the Panaji bus stand at 5.45 pm, but we were told that we will not get a bus until 7 pm. Bus agencies are saying that all buses are full and we will have to wait. They are trying to push us into whatever bus available and are charging us extra money. But how can buses be full if there is a strike? These private bus owners are obviously lying to us.”

Her European companion who didn’t want to be named informed, “The travel rates are simply ridiculous. Air-conditioned buses from Bangalore to Goa are now charging Rs 800, but Goa to Bangalore is over Rs 1000. Besides non-AC seater class buses are charging Rs 900 whereas sleeper class is for Rs 650. There is no logic at all in the difference of rates.”

As a result, tourists are discouraged from travelling to the state. “Travelling in Goa is anyway expensive,” lamented Arun Kumar, another tourist, “If this continues, then people will all the more be discouraged to come here by bus. Most of us tourists are from middle class homes and buses are the most convenient way to travel. If buses are going to charge Rs 1000 and above, we might as well rent a car for the journey.”

Jovita continued, “My friends who went home from Mapusa paid Rs 600 for their non-AC sleeper class travel whereas we are paying Rs 1200, which is double the amount. I don’t get the whole point of this when it is the same route. If Goa wants tourists, they should decrease their bus fares.”

Later that day, however, tourist bus operators withdrew their strike after Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar intervened. Goods transporters, however, remain adamant.

Goa cut off from food lifeline

goanobserver — Sat, 18 May 2013 08:47:00 +0000

By GO Correspondent

The Chief Minister will have to review the entry tax as Goa cannot cut off its trade links with Belgaum, which is the food lifeline of the state.

THE SHOWDOWN between the All India Motor Transport Congress (AIMTC) and the government of Goa over the entry tax for vehicles coming into Goa seems to be intensifying. Industry in Goa is almost totally dependent on raw materials brought from outside the state and for the sale of goods produced within the state as Goa is not large enough a market for big companies like Nestle or Hindustan Lever or even Zuari, who sell majority of their products outside the state.

Despite all the bravado of the Chief Minister and the Managing Director of the Horticultural corporation, Orlando Rodrigues, Goa can never become self sufficient in vegetables, dairy products like milk and meat, even if one excludes beef. The bitter ground realty is that Goa does not produce enough vegetables or milk to meet the requirements of its ever growing population. The presumption by the Chief Minister and the Horticulture Corporation that the vegetable vendors in Belgaum will not join the boycott because Goa is a big market for them is misplaced. If AIMTC persists in its confrontational attitude, entry of any kind of vehicle, even if it is essential supplies, will be blocked. With the government insisting that it will not withdraw the entry tax, transport associations from Karnataka and Maharashtra are working overtime to ensure the total block of all transport vehicles.

ILLEGAL TAX?

THE argument of the AIMTC that the entry tax is illegal is true to a large extent. The justification for the imposition of the entry tax is that transport vehicles use the infrastructure of bridges and roads in the state and, therefore, should share the cost of the creation and maintenance of the infrastructure. But the major flaw in the argument is that transport operators and vehicles from outside the state are being forced to pay for the infrastructure which has already been in existence for over two decades. The standard practice is to impose a toll only on new bridges or roads built on a public-private partnership basis. If the Goa and the central government build a new bridge over the Zuari, they would be entitled to charge a toll to recover the expenses of the bridge, but no state in the country has so far imposed an entry tax by the state Public Works Department on infrastructure already existing in the state.

The biggest worry of the AIMTC is that this may become a precedent and other states may also try to emulate the example of Goa. Ironically, the imposition of entry tax comes at a time when the central government is desperately trying to persuade states to abolish Octroi, which has to be paid on the transport of goods charged by civic bodies and opt for a general transport tax which will be a one point tax. Private tourist bus operators are justified in claiming that the entry tax amounts to double taxation because they have to pay an inter-state tax to the RTO. Moreover, in the latest budget in addition to an increase in the registration tax for interstate vehicles, a composition tax has been increased from Rs 300 per seat to an extortionate Rs 1200 per month on inter-state bus operators.

Transport Minister Sudin Dhavlikar has taken the stand that the tax is justified because Goa is the only state which does not charge tourists for entry to various tourist attractions in the state. Which is not true to the extent that the government has imposed a luxury tax of 12% on hotels, which has a tariff of over Rs 5000 per room per day. The loophole which existed which makes it possible to rent back property called as holiday homes has been plugged with the Finance Minister in his budget announcing stiff taxes of 5% of the rent on accommodation given on lease for short periods of time up to six months. Besides this, the taxes imposed on restaurants is the highest in the country with the total of the value added tax, service tax and luxury tax coming up to almost 30% of the bill even if you eat in an udipi restaurant. The tourist is also fleeced by private-public transport operators such as tourist taxis, blacktop taxis and auto ‘rakshasas’ and even motorcycle pilots in connivance with the transport department.

TOURIST IMPACT

IT is not the fault of the tourists that neither the Department of Archeology nor the Government of Goa charges a fee for entry to historical monuments like the Bom Jesus Basilica or the Se Cathedral, as is the practice in the case of monuments like the Taj Mahal in Agra. If the government is so desperate for revenue, it can even impose a tax on entry to Dona Paula. It can impose a toll, if the totally fool hardy and extravagant proposal for the new bridge over the Mandovi from Betim to the Kala Academy at a proposed cost of Rs 136 crore is built for the benefit of the tourism and transport ministers.

Transport operators cannot be penalised just because the Government of Goa does not charge tourists an entry fee into places of tourism interest. In fact, even if the government had imposed an entry tax only on tourism vehicles, it would have been perhaps not faced with such stiff opposition. But the blanket tax on the entry of all vehicles and the tax of as much as Rs 1000 on interstate buses and even interstate goods carriers is totally unwarranted. The arguments being trotted out by Dhavlikar verge on the ridiculous. The biggest illegality committed by the Goa government is that the PWD started collecting the entry tax even before the governor had signed the concerned proposals and the government had notified the entry tax. In fact, vehicle owners who paid the entry tax during the time the act had not been notified should be entitled to a refund.

The Chief Minister himself is apparently now having second and third thoughts about the legitimacy and the consequences of continuing with the extortionate entry tax. The Chief Minister has been seeking to justify the tax by claiming that it is actually a penalty on vehicles for overload. Parrikar has apparently also threatened to charge Rs 1000 for every extra tonne in a vehicle beyond seven tonnes in place of the entry tax, as is done in Gujarat. According to the chief minister, trucks are overloaded to the extent of 10-18 tonnes. If the state starts imposing a penalty on extra weight, the charges would be Rs 3000-11,000 per trip. The threat to impose a penalty on overloaded vehicles is virtually an admission that so far the state has been condoning the entry of overloaded vehicles, particularly vehicles that carry iron ore and dirty cargo like coal.

The Goa branch of the AIMTC has challenged the imposition of the entry tax before the Goa bench of the Bombay High Court. It is possible if not probable that the High Court will strike down the entry fee. It would appear that the entry fee has become a matter of prestige and ego for Manohar Parrikar. The Chief Minister has been making all kinds of threats. For instance, he is insisting that Goa is a major buyer of produce from neighbouring states and that the state pays much higher rates. “We are in contact with suppliers. They will lose the contract if they stop supplying. For example, milk suppliers don’t want to stop. As suppliers are getting good rates from five star hotels in Goa and in case if they do not supply, the contract would be cancelled.” Parrikar is reported to have told media persons that the government will not talk to the protesters if they continue to threaten the state.

The bitter ground reality that Goa is dependent on Maharashtra and Karnataka for much of its basic necessities and cannot afford to antagonise transport operators. While a tourism cess to reimburse the government for the mess the tourists who leave behind on the beaches such as broken bottles and garbage could be justified, it cannot take the form of a blanket entry tax which is an extortionate Rs 1,000 in the case of 6-8 wheeler goods vehicles and passenger buses and as much as Rs 250 on four wheelers. In the face of the defeat of the BJP in Karnataka and the installation of a Congress government, the Chief Minister will have to review the entry tax as Goa cannot cut off its trade links with Belgaum, which is the food lifeline of the state.

BJP national executive to meet in property owned by 2G accused

goanobserver — Sat, 18 May 2013 08:29:39 +0000

By Rajan Narayan

AND A few more stray thoughts and a few more observations for yet another Sunday. For a Sunday following the week when a section of the media disclosed that Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar was closely linked with one of the saffron organisations which demanded a total ban on the slaughter of the holy cow. For a Sunday following the week when assembly questions revealed that over 800 government Marathi medium primary schools were being kept alive on life support though they had an enrollment of less than 10 students. For a Sunday following the week when a contractor revealed that things had not improved with the change of the government and he had yet to receive his dues for work done for the PWD. For a Sunday following the week when the BJP-MGP alliance swept the civic elections in Ponda. For a Sunday following the week when the BJP national executive was scheduled to meet in the first week of June at the Grand Hyatt, a property which is owned by one of the main accused in the 2G scam case. For a Sunday following the week when Dr Mahesh Sardessai, head of the radiology department who also spends most of his time in private practice, escaped suspension because his daughter is married to Manohar Parrikar’s son.

CM EXPOSED

AND a few stray thoughts on the revelation that the Chief Minister, Manohar Parrikar, is involved with one of the organisations which moved the High Court for a ban on the slaughter of the holy cow. A section of the press has revealed that Manohar Parrikar was the chairman of Akhil Viswa Jai Shriram Gosavardhan Kendra, which was one of the petitioners before the Goa bench of the Bombay High Court demanding a total ban on the slaughter of the holy cow in Goa. The Hindu Janajagruti Samiti, which is one of the saffron frontal organisations known for its extremist rules, has also rebuked Manohar Parrikar for permitting the slaughter of the holy cow despite the BJP being a Hindu party.

SAFFRON TRUST

The trust formed in 2008 has its registered office in Valpoi in Sattari taluka and is headed by Hanuman Parab, who was one of the petitioners in the beef ban case filed before the High Court. The spokesperson for the trust, Hanuman Parab who is one of the petitioners, acknowledged that Parrikar was one of its principal advisors till about a month ago when he resigned. It is not known whether Parrikar resigned before the petition was filed or after the petition was filed. Either way, considering his close ties with the Akhil Viswa Jai Shriram Gosavardhan Kendra, Parrikar must have been kept informed about the petition against the slaughter of the holy cow at the Goa Meat Complex and the ban on the import of cattle from Karnataka.

The shortage of beef due to the ban on the import of cattle and the High Court order limiting the slaughter of animals at the Goa Meat Complex to day time hours only has caused a serious shortage of beef. There is also a controversy over the 100-odd cattle which have been brought from outside the state which are now being kept in the premises of the Goa Meat Complex. But the slaughter of these holy cows is not being permitted because their origin is not known and the tests to check their age have not been completed.

The Diocesan Society for Social Action has dubbed the ban on the import of beef and the partial ban on the slaughter of the holy cow in the Goa Meat Complex as an anti-Christian conspiracy. Conversely, fundamentalist Hindutva organisations have attacked Manohar Parrikar for permitting the slaughter of the holy cow in Goa. Strangely, minority community MLAs who are the mainstay of the Parrikar-led government have remained silent over the issue. Ironically, the BJP has been accusing the Congress of communalising the beef issue. Lyndon Monteiro, the principal chamcha of former tourism minister and Benaulim MLA, Mickky Pacheco, has revealed that two refrigerated trucks of the Goa Meat Complex have been sent to Belgaum to procure beef to meet the shortage, even in the cold storages. But nobody seems to be interested in a permanent solution. The ongoing strike against the entry fee has compounded the problem of the shortage.

EMPTY SCHOOLS

AND a few stray thoughts on the huge waste of money in keeping alive over 800 Marathi medium primary schools. Except in the Salcete taluka, the majority of the vernacular government primary schools are in the Marathi medium. In Salcete, there are as many Konkani medium government schools as Marathi medium primary schools. There are over 30 Urdu medium primary schools in various talukas in the state, which have a relatively high enrollment. Readers will be amused to know that besides government primary schools in the Marathi, Konkani and Urdu medium, there are also government schools in the Hindi, Kannada and Telugu medium which receive grants. However, except for the Diocesan schools, those run by private managements including Hindu majority schools which have English medium primary schools do not get grants from the government.

SINGLE TEACHERS

The overwhelming majority of the government primary schools in Marathi have an enrollment of less than 10 per class from the first to the fourth standard. In fact, there are over 200 schools which are virtually 25% of the total number of Marathi medium schools which have enrollment of less than five in each class. Even more tragically, over 50% of the 849 government primary schools have only a single teacher for all the four classes from first to fourth.

In fact I know several maid servants working in the homes of the bold and the beautiful and the rich and the powerful in Dona Paula who insist on sending their children to English medium primary schools. Fortunately for those who prefer to send their children to English medium primary schools, there are enough Diocesan schools which continue to get grants from the government for English medium primary schools. Ironically, while the Rosary School in Dona Paula, Auxillium in Taleigao and Don Bosco High School in Panaji get grants for their primary English medium schools, Mushtifund High School and the People’s High School, which also have English medium primary schools, do not get grants. Significantly, the Bhatikar Model School in Margao has gone against the trend and started a new Konkani medium primary school which has attracted quite a lot of students.

We are not against vernacular medium primary schools. It may well be that children in vernacular medium primary schools understand the world around them better because they are studying in their mother tongue. It would be adequate, however, to make the mother tongue and preferably the official language which is Konkani in the Devnagiri script a compulsory subject from Std I to X in all schools, irrespective of whether they are funded schools or non-funded schools. When I was enrolled in primary school in Pune where I was born, while the medium of instruction was English, Marathi was a compulsory subject. Similarly, in the Jesuit-run school in Bangalore where I studied from the Std V to XI, Kannada was compulsory. Which is why I can still understand Marathi and Kannada, even though my mother tongue is Tamil. It seems to me a waste of resources to run government primary schools with an enrollment of less than 10 per class with only a single teacher available for all the classes from Std I to IV. It is not at all surprising that the dropout rate is very high at the fifth standard level when there is a sudden shift from the vernacular medium to the English.

PWD CORRUPTION

AND a few stray thoughts on the situation in the PWD in terms of corruption and delay in the payment to contractors seem to have remained unchanged. Manohar Parrikar and Public Works Department Minister Sudin Dhavlikar have launched repeated attacks against the former PWD minister, Churchill Alemao. It has been widely acknowledged that that there was widespread corruption in the PWD department when Churchill Alemao was the PWD Minister. It has been alleged that nobody could get a contract or have their bills cleared till they met Valenka Alemao, who operated from the Circuit House in Margao. It has been alleged that the kickback rate went up to as much as 25% during Churchill Alemao’s tenure. Alemao has also been accused of wanting to build as many as three bridges in his constituency, purely to make money. Only one of the three bridges has been commissioned.

The bridge building mania continues in the tenure of the present PWD minister, Sudin Dhavlikar. I understand that the totally unnecessary bridge costing over Rs 140 crore from the River Cruise jetty to Betim across the Mandovi River has been approved. Though there has been a huge hue and cry over the Calvim Bridge in Aldona, which was the scene of the tragedy involving the death of school children when a bus plunged into the river, locals are apparently not very happy about the fast track work on the bridge. Apparently, contractors involved in building the bridge are dumping cement into the river. Sudin Dhavlikar also appears to be determined to build bridges to connect Divar to the mainland for the benefit of builders, even though locals are strongly opposed to any such bridge.

MAJOR KICKBACKS

Coming to corruption, even during the previous tenure of Dhavlikar as the PWD minister in the Digamber Kamat government, there were allegations of major kickbacks and corruption. It may be recalled that after the entry of Churchill Alemao into the Congress, Dhavlikar was dropped from the cabinet or at least divested of the PWD portfolio. It is alleged that during Dhavlikar’s earlier tenure as PWD minister the kickback was between 5% and 10%. During the Alemao regime, it allegedly jumped to 20-30%. A contractor at a party recently told me that he has yet to get his dues for work done running into crores of rupees after the new Parrikar government came to power. This is partly because the contractor concerned has refused to pay the 15% commission being demanded to clear the dues. The Manohar Parrikar government has yet to clear the dues of contractors who were given contracts during the tenure of Churchill Alemao as the PWD minister.

PONDA CIVIC POLLS

AND a few stray thoughts on the MGP-BJP combine sweeping the Ponda civic elections. The rival panel led by the controversial son of the former home minister, Roy Naik, could get only one seat. Much to the humiliation of Ravi Naik, Roy lost the election. But to the dismay of the BJP, more candidates owing allegiance to the Dhavlikar brothers got elected than those who are BJP party members. However, in Sanquelim which is the fiefdom of the Ranes, the BJP has not been so successful. The BJP panel has failed to secure a clear majority. This comes in the wake of the BJP losing control of the Panaji and Margao civic bodies. The BJP is interested in amending the rules for civic elections permitting political parties to contest the elections on party lines. At present, no political symbols are recognised for elections in civic and panchayat elections.

BJP EXECUTIVE

AND a few stray thoughts on the meeting of the national executive of the BJP to be held at the Grand Hyatt in the first week of June. This is an action replay of the meeting of National Executive of the BJP at Cidade de Goa during Manohar Parrikar’s first tenure as chief minister. It will be recalled that the national executive of the BJP which met when Atal Behari Vajpayee was the prime minister, was confronted with taking a stand on the sacking of Narendra Modi as the chief minister of Gujarat since the meeting of the executive took place soon after the post Godhra riots.

I recall the meeting of the national executive very distinctly because editors along with their spouses were invited for dinner at the Raj Bhavan to meet senior leaders of the BJP, including Atal Behari Vajpayee and Lal Krishna Advani. During the course of the dinner, apparently there was a phone call from Gujarat and the senior leaders of the BJP, including Vajpayee and Advani, retreated to a room in the Raj Bhavan for a conference. Apparently, the question before the national executive then was whether to sack Narendra Modi or not. Vajpayee was in favour of sacking Narendra Modi, but was overruled by the hardliners who then included Advani.

MODI AS PM

Interestingly, the national executive meeting of the BJP is taking place at a time when Advani has been sidelined because of his opposition to the projection of Narendra Modi as the prime ministerial candidate in the Lok Sabha elections scheduled to be held in 2014. The main issue before the national executive of the BJP will be to take a call on whether Narendra Modi should be projected as the principal campaign manager and, as a corollary, the prime ministerial candidate in the Lok Sabha elections next year. The pro Narendra Modi forces, including Party president Rajnath Singh, have received a setback because of the defeat of the BJP in Karnataka despite the star campaigner, Narendra Modi. The inference drawn by the anti Modi camp is that ‘Modi magic’ does not work outside Gujarat.

What is scandalous is that the national executive meet is being held in the Grand Hyatt. It is widely known that the property which is being managed by the Hyatt is owned by the 2G scam-tainted Shahid Balwa. Indeed, Balwa is among the main accused in the 2G scam and is alleged to have transferred funds to the television channel owned by DMK supremo, Karunanidhi. It may be recalled that the DMK chief’s daughter, Kanimozhi, spent over six months in jail along with Balwa. It seems surprising that a party which has been shouting from the house tops about the failure of the government to prosecute all those involved in the 2G scam should be holding its national executive meeting in a property owned by one of the accused in the 2G scam.

SARDESSAI SAVED

AND a last stray thought for yet another Sunday. We were not surprised over the suspension of Dr S M Bandekar, the head of the department of orthopaedics, on the charge of engaging in private practice. What is surprising is that Dr Mahesh Sardessai, who is also alleged to engage in private practice, has not been suspended by Health Minister Laxmikant Parsekar. Is this because Dr Mahesh Sardessai’s daughter is married to Manohar Parrikar’s son? I understand that K D Row, who was a former station manager of Air India, and has been made the chairman of the Goa State Public Service Commission, is also distantly related to Manohar Parrikar. Obviously relatives of Manohar Parrikar are beyond the law. It may be recalled that during his previous tenure as chief minister, Manohar Parrikar sent legal notices to the editors and publishers of all dailies for carrying statements of the then leader of the opposition, Luizinho Faleiro, alleging that Manohar Parrikar had bullied the EDC into giving a very favourable one time settlement to his brother-in-law who had run up huge arrears against the loan he had taken for his company, Simchem.

In ajeeb Goa, literacy declines!

goanobserver — Sat, 18 May 2013 08:05:44 +0000

By Rajan Narayan

The most disturbing aspect of the 2011 census date is that, for the first time in Goa’s history, the literacy figures have declined. This is a pointer to the impact of migrants on the state.

THOUGH THE growth of population of Goa over the 2001-2011 decade has not been significant with an increase of less than 10% from 13.48 lakh in 2001 to 14.58 lakh, what is alarming is that the increase of 1,10,000 in absolute numbers comprises almost totally of migrants. The continued influx of migrants in the 2001-2011 decade comes on top of migration rates of 26% in the 1971-1981 decade, 16% in the 1981-1991 decade and 15.21% in the 1991-2001 decade. The fact that migrants now form large parts of Goa’s population is dramatised by the fact that over 64% of Goa’s population now lives in urban areas. Any increase in Goa’s population over the last three decades has been due to influx of migrants as the reproduction rate of the ethnic Goan population has averaged around 1.5%, which is below the replacement rate.

Migrants have historically tended to settle in urban areas since that is where the jobs are. The sharp increase in the growth rate of the urban population in contrast to the rural population further reinforces the belief that migrants now outnumber Goans. For Goa as a whole, the increase in the urban population over the 2001-2011 decade has been as high as 35.23% with a corresponding decline in the rural population by 18.51%. Since the total growth of the Goan population during the decade has been only 8.23%, the 35% increase in the urban population is obviously due to the influx of migrants.

URBAN GROWTH

CENSUS figures which were released on Tuesday reveal that in North Goa the urban population has grown by a whopping 44.28% while the rural population has declined by 22%. In the Bardez taluka, the rural population has declined by 21% while the urban population has increased by 22% in the decade 2001-2011. In Tiswadi, the urban population has increased by 32.93% while the rural population has declined by 31.75%. Between father Pratapsingh Raoji Rane and son Vishwajit Rane, the rural population of Sattari has been virtually decimated with the growth in urban population being as high as 81.82%. In the Ponda taluka, the growth in urban population has been an incredible 113.2% as against a decline in the rural population by 38%.

Coming to south Goa, as against growth rate of 8.73% during the decade, the rural population has declined by 12% while the urban population has increased by 25.82%. The highest increase in urban population in South Goa is predictably in Salcete, which has seen an increase of 40.17% in the urban population as against a decline of 25.76% in the rural population. Quepem, obviously because of the high level of mining activity, has witnessed a growth rate in the urban population by 32.31% though the decline in rural population has been only 9.54%. If a spot census is conducted as on this week, the urban population of Quepem would probably have fallen by 80% as the migrant mining labour have left the state. Surprisingly, the growth of urban population in the Mormugao taluka has been only 9.94% with a corresponding decline in rural population of 9.58%. Sanguem has recorded only a decline of less than 1% in rural population and a marginal growth of 4.92% in the urban population. Similarly, Canacona has witnessed a 4.48% growth in urban population as against 2% in the rural population.

It may be noted that increase in urban population in the most populated talukas, which have the largest number of cities and census towns, is much higher than the decline in the rural population. The logical corollary is that the extraordinary increase in urban population, which is as high as 113% in Ponda, 81.82% in Sattari and 44.28% for North Goa as a whole as against a decline in rural population of only 22.5%, which is double the growth in the urban population, would signify that the increase in urban population can only be attributed to influx of migrants.

SEX RATIO

THERE are other indications that migrants have taken over Goa. While the sex ratio for Goa as a whole according to the 2011 census is 973 females per 1000 males, which is a matter of a concern, almost uniformly the percentage for females to males is positive in the rural areas. This is because most of the migrants are male, whether Hindu or Muslim, and the majority do not bring their families with them. For Goa as a whole because of the fact that migrants tend to settle in urban areas, the sex ratio in rural Goa at 1003 is much higher than the sex ratio in the urban area, which is as low as 956.

Coming to North Goa, the same trend persists with the sex ratio being 982 in rural north Goa against 951 in the urban part of North Goa. In the Tiswadi taluka, which is a magnet for migrants, the sex ratio is 1034 in rural areas as against 946 in urban areas. In South Goa, the sex ratio for the whole of South Goa in the rural areas is 1034, as against 961 in urban areas. In the Salcete taluka, the sex ratio in rural areas is 1097 as against 998 in urban areas. In Canacona also, the sex ratio in the rural area is 1016 against 976 in the urban areas. Sanguem is the only taluka where the sex ratio in the urban area at 1021 is higher than the sex ratio in the rural area at 992.

Goa has historically prided itself on its very high rate of literacy. The overall literacy rate in the state, as per the 2011 census, is as high as 88.70. Males are more literate than females with the literacy rates among males being 92.65% while the literacy rates among females is 84.66%. In every state in the country and in our country as a whole, the literacy rate has always gone up and never come down.

Thanks to the huge influx of migrants, Goa is witnessing the unprecedented phenomenon of a decline in literacy rates. Though for Goa as a whole there has been an absolute increase in literacy levels at 1.79 lakh, there has been a decline in the literacy rates in rural Goa to the extent of 51,344 persons. The literacy rate in rural north Goa has declined by 47,534 with the highest decline in literacy being in the Ponda taluka (24,957).

In the case of South Goa the decline in literacy is 3,810 for the whole of south Goa, but for rural areas in Salcette taluka the decline has been 13,169. The increase in the number of literates is lowest in rural Mormugao recording an increase of an additional 49 literates. The increase in literacy has also been low in urban parts of Sanguem, which has added only 904 persons to the levels of literacy.

BUILDING BLUES

THE recession in the Goa economy and the virtual stoppage of construction activity following the scrapping of notorious RP 2011 and the continuing delay in notifying RP 2021 has seen a decline in employment opportunities, particularly for migrants in the state. This is dramatised by the census data, which shows a decline of workers by 58,916 in 2011 compared to 2001. The highest decline is in North Goa (48,953). Within North Goa, the highest decline has been in Ponda (16,978) followed by Pernem (14,908). In the case of South Goa, the total decline for the district has been 9,963. The decline in the number of workers is 8,586 in Salcete, 2,041 in Quepem and a marginal 382 in Mormugao.

Indicative of the flight of migrants from Goa is the fact that there has been a decline in the scheduled caste population by 11.47% in North Goa and 8.07% in South Goa. Goa does not have any indigenous scheduled caste population and the entire scheduled caste population in Goa comprises migrants. The biggest decline in scheduled castes has been in rural Canacona (-50.95%). There has also been a decline in the scheduled caste population in Sanguem (16.75%).

As against the decline in the population of scheduled caste there has been a huge increase in the population of scheduled tribes, presumably due to the notification by the Centre of the Gaudis, Kunbis and Velips as scheduled tribes. The increase in the scheduled tribe population in the case of North Goa and Goa as a whole is 26,273.67%. In the case of rural Goa, the increase has been 46,025% while the increase in urban Goa, where very few scheduled tribes live, is 16,292%. For North Goa, the increase in the scheduled tribe population is 20,044.48%. The highest increase is in Tiswadi - 6,54,700%. The increase in Sattari has been 1,00,650%. In South Goa, the percentage increase of the scheduled tribe population is 3,24,150% with the highest increase in rural areas at 83,156%. In Quepem, the increase in the percentage of scheduled tribe population is 2,80,900% followed by Sanguem, where it is 1,73,187%.

All the census figures released corroborate the conclusion that Goans are now a minority in Goa. The high rate of increase in the urban population and the decline in the rural population point to high influx of migrants. The fact that the gender ratio is higher in rural areas also confirms high influx of migrants who are often unmarried or leave their families behind in their native villages while they work in Goa. The most dramatic indication that migrant population in Goa is growing is the startling decline in literacy. This is probably unique in that we have never come across a decline in literacy rate in the census data of any state in the country.

Goa mining ban hits Sesa Goa

goanobserver — Sat, 18 May 2013 08:04:02 +0000

By Rajan Narayan

The suspension of mining has caused a loss of Rs 1200 crore for the Goa government and Rs 6000 crore in foreign exchange.

IT DOES not look as though mining of iron ore, which stands suspended by virtue of the interim order of the Supreme Court on September 12, 2012 in response to a petition by the Goa Foundation is likely to resume any time in the near future. This is because the Supreme Court refused to grant any relief when some sections of the mining industry and panchayats in the mining areas sought a lifting of the ban on mining on Monday, May 10, 2013 in the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court has now postponed the next hearing of the case to July 4, after the summer vacation of the Supreme Court. In fact, the intervention applications of some major mining companies were put on the back burner by the Environmental bench of the Supreme Court when it had taken up the cases of Karnataka and Orissa, where mining had been suspended based on the report of the Shah Commission. It is possible that the highest court in the land was annoyed by the comments of Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar, who accused the Supreme Court of a lack of accountability and concern for the livelihood of the mining affected people. Earlier, the Chief Minister had ridiculed the findings of the Shah Commission and refused to comply with the directives of the Central Empowered Committee of the Supreme Court headed by K Jaikrishnan, a former chief secretary of Goa, who was entrusted with the follow up on the recommendations of the Shah Commission.

IRONY

IRONICALLY, it was not the Shah Commission or the Union Ministry of Environment, but Manohar Parrikar who fired the first salvo against the mining industry. As leader of the opposition and chairman of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of the Goa Legislative Assembly, Manohar Parrikar had alleged as far back as in January 2012 that irregularities by mine owners had resulted in a loss of over Rs 3,500 crore to the public exchequer. The then Digamber Kamat-controlled Legislative Assembly did not allow Manohar Parrikar to table the PAC report in the Legislative Assembly on the ground that the Congress members of the committee had not signed the report. The report was taken cognisance of by the Legislative Assembly after Manohar Parrikar returned to power in the elections held in March 2012.

The Shah Commission report was tabled in Parliament on September 8, 2012 a few months after Manohar Parrikar took over as chief minister. In a holier than thou attitude, Manohar Parrikar promptly ordered the suspension of all mining activity till the allegations in the Shah Commission report were verified. However, the Chief Minister did not suspend the transport and export of ore that had already been extracted. In a spirit of unhealthy competition, the then Union Minister for Environment, Jayanti Natrajan, flew down to Goa and announced that all environmental permissions given to the mining industry had been put on hold. The Supreme Court, acting on the petition filed by the Goa Foundation, imposed a ban not only on the extraction of ore but also on the transport and export of ore on September 12, 2012. When the Parrikar government permitted the transport and shipment of 1.7 lakh tonnes of ore, claimed to have been extracted from the mines of the Fomento Group in Maharashtra, the Central Empowered Committee of the Supreme Court strongly objected pointing out that the apex court had banned the transport and export of are till it submits its judgment on the original petition filed by the Goa Foundation.

That the suspension of mining has seriously affected the revenue not only of the mining companies but also of the government was dramatised by the Chief Minister, who is also the Finance Minister, in his budget for the year 2013-2014. The Finance Minister acknowledged that the loss of revenue due to non receipt of royalty and taxes was to the extent of Rs 1,200 crore, which represents 25% of Goa’s gross domestic product. The Finance Minister has been compelled to raise the levies and fees on various transactions such as stamp duty and luxury tax on the tourism industry, which has gone up to 30%, to make up for the loss of revenue from the mining industry. The impact of the suspension of mining on the mining industry itself can be gauged from the fact that for the first time since its inception, Sesa Goa, the largest mining company in Goa, recorded a drop of 66.4% in its income from operations to Rs 2187.92 crore for the year 2012-2013. The profit before interest for the year ending 2012-2013 has dropped to Rs 535.93 crore, which is a decline of 81.5% compared to the previous year. The loss suffered by the other major mining companies in Goa is not known because they are all either proprietary or private limited companies who are not required to make their accounts public.

SHAH COMMISSION

THE appointment of the Shah Commission was in response to increasing complaints against illegal mining in Karnataka and Goa. It may be recalled that in Karnataka the Reddy brothers were accused of large scale illegal mining and even changing the border with Andhra Pradesh to facilitate their illegal mining operations. In Goa, Goa Foundation had filed a comprehensive public interest writ in the Supreme Court against large scale illegal mining and severe pollution and fatalities due to accidents caused by rash and negligent driving by mining trucks which operated on a per trip basis. This provoked them to overload the trucks and speed on narrow roads to the ore- loading points from the pitheads, resulting in a large number of fatalities due to road accidents. The figures of road accidents for the last three years reveal that mining trucks were responsible for one-third of the total fatalities due to road accidents. Every time there was a fatality or severe injury due to the plying of mining trucks, there was a fresh agitation against the mines operating in the area.

Till 2002 (see table), the mining industry and civil society in Goa co-existed relatively peacefully, though there were many complaints from anti-mining activists. This was because the volume of extraction of ore and the export of ore was limited to 15-16 million tonnes. Unlike Bellary and Hospet, historically Goa has been only producing and exporting fines which is of no use to the steel industry in the country. Moreover, even the fines exported from Goa have low ore content and were only used in the mix by Japanese and South Korean companies, which were the main markets for the mining industry. Since the levels of mining activity were low, there was no major confrontation between civil society and the mining lobby. All this changed when China entered the market in the run up to the Olympic Games for raw material for its steel industry, which was growing at a phenomenal rate. In their desperation, the Chinese were willing to pay up to $ 82-100 per tonne even for ore with iron (FE) content of 45%, which had been historically literally dumped by the mining industry because there was no demand. Prior to the Chinese entering the market, the demand was limited to ore with a minimum FE content of at least 55-60%.

The rapacious demand for iron ore by China, which continued even after the Olympics, led to an extraordinary boom in the mining industry. Not only did the existing mines produce much more than their authorised capacity, but old mines which had been closed down because they were not viable were reopened. The mine owners also started mining the dumps which had accumulated over the years for ore of 40-50% FE content. The dumps are estimated to have over 20 million tonnes of exportable ore. Because of the Chinese ore rush, when the price rose to as much as $200 per tonne in the spot market, a lot of fly by night operators entered the mining business. This included many politicians who were entrusted with either the extraction of ore in areas where local communities were hostile or in the form of leasing of machinery and transport of ore.

POLITICAL LINK

AS it was revealed subsequently in the Shah Commission report, half the cabinet and the president of the Goa Pradesh Congress Committee, Subhash Shirodkar, were involved with the mining industry in some form or the other. The then chief minister, Digambar Kamat, who had held the mines portfolio even in the predecessor Rane and Manohar Parrikar governments, turned a blind eye to the illegalities of the mining industry which was compounded by the large scale entry of ore from Bellary which was exported through the Mormugao Port without proper documentation. Ironically, even in the present Manohar Parrikar government, there are as many as four MLAs elected on the BJP ticket who are closely associated with the mining industry.
The Public Accounts Committee report, which was belatedly laid on the table of the house after Manohar Parrikar came back to power in the March 2012 elections, had estimated the loss to the exchequer at Rs 3,500 crore. The Shah Commission estimate, however, was ten times the amount at Rs 35,000 crore. The Chief Minister has strongly disputed the estimates of loss to the exchequer due to illegal mining by the Shah Commission. Indeed, Manohar Parrikar has accused the Shah Commission and the Central Empowered Committee of the Supreme Court of grossly exaggerating the loss to the exchequer due to illegal mining in Goa.

The Shah Commission has made three main charges against the mining industry and the regulatory bodies who are supposed to monitor the extraction and export of ore in Goa. The Shah Commission has alleged that successive chief ministers, including Pratapsingh Rane, Manohar Parrikar and Digambar Kamat had retrospectively given permission for conversion of the mining concessions granted by the Portuguese government into mining leases as required by the Ministry of Industry and Mines. In 1987, the Ministry of Mines issued a directive cancelling all the concessions granted by the Portuguese colonial regime for the extraction of ore, stipulating that the concession holders should for apply for conversion of these to leases within six months. A large number of holders of concessions did not apply for conversion of their concessions to leases. Much later when mining became a gold mine because of the demand from China, there was a rush by holders of concessions or really agents and traders to convert the concessions into leases. Though the time period for conversion of concessions to leases had long since expired, all three chief ministers permitted the conversion of concessions into mining leases with retrospective effect. The Shah Commission has taken the stand that the ore extracted and exported by those whose concessions were illegally converted into leases after 1988 had violated the law and that these exports should be considered illegal.

ENCROACHMENT

THE Shah Commission also claimed that there was massive encroachment of land outside the area of the approved mining leases. When permission for mining was granted by the Ministry of Environment and the Ministry of Mines, a map showing the area where mining activity would take place was normally enclosed. The Shah Commission, on the basis of ground level studies with the help of Google GPS systems, concluded that a huge area had been encroached upon by the mining companies. And that the extraction and export of ore from the areas encroached on should be considered illegal.

The third charge of the Shah Commission was that the licensed mining units had exceeded their annual authorised capacity by over 200% or 300%. When mining permissions are granted, in the interest of preserving national resources, a ceiling is imposed on the quantity of ore that can be extracted from a specific mine in a financial year. The Shah Commission found - on the basis of the figures of exports which had peaked to 46 million tonnes in 2010-2011 from around 15-20 million tonnes a decade ago - that all the major players had grossly exceeded their authorised capacity. Ethical mine owners acknowledge that one particular firm had been the biggest culprit, having exceeded the authorised capacity by almost 2000%. However, every major and minor group has admitted to exceeding the authorised capacity. At the height of the controversy over illegal mining, a leading mine owner, Anil Salgaocar, who had subcontracted his mine to the then minister for urban development, Joaquiim Alemao, publicly admitted that no royalties or taxes had been paid on the leased mines for over five years.

Following the knee jerk reaction which led him to suspend all mining activity, the Chief Minister, under pressure from his own MLAs and the mining industry, has been desperately attempting to get the Union Mines ministry and the Supreme Court to lift the ban on mining in the state. Manohar Parrikar himself may not have a major stake in the mining industry, but the Bhartiya Janta Party and particularly, Sushma Swaraj, the leader of the party in the Lok Sabha, has close links with the Karnataka Reddy brothers. Sesa Goa, which is part of the Vedanta Group, has admitted in its balance sheet that it had donated Rs 800 crore to the party funds of the Congress and Rs 600 crore to the BJP. The private limited companies involved in mining in Goa have historically prided themselves on the fact that they can make and unmake chief ministers. The chairman of the Fomento group, Auvdhut Timblo, had taken credit for the appointment of Digamber Kamat as the compromise choice for the chief minister’s post in 2007.

Left to the political parties, both the BJP and the Congress - which cannot agree on anything these days - would would have come together and lobbied for the resumption of mining in Goa. Unfortunately for the politicians for whom the mining industry whether in Goa or in Karnataka or Orissa has been a major source of funding for the party and kickbacks for themselves, the issue is before the Supreme Court. Which is in no mood to tolerate violation of the law by the mining industry. It took almost two years for the Supreme Court to permit the partial resumption of mining in Karnataka, under strict conditions. It will probably take as much time or more for the Supreme Court to decide on the petition filed by the Goa Foundation and the intervention applications filed by the mining companies and the Goa government requesting the lifting of the ban on mining.

SMALL BUSINESSMEN

THOUGH the big guns in the mining industry may make noises about the loss they have suffered due to the suspension of mining, they are not overtly worried and are prepared to wait. This is because the price of ore has fallen to $40 or less per tonne and they have made a windfall in the years when the price of ore had jumped to over $100 per tonne. It must, however, be acknowledged that the suspension of mining has impacted the truck owners, the businessmen who made a living by hiring mining equipment, the barge owners who transported ore from the jetties to the Mormugao port, and the petty businessmen running hotels and truck repair shops who are jobless because of the suspension of mining and of course liquor outlets and bars. Also severely affected is the Mormugao Port, which was almost totally dependent for its survival and its prosperity on the export of ore. In fact, the MPT has offered a golden handshake to over 2000 of its employees. Companies like Sesa Goa have resorted to deferred salaries of one-third of the normal salaries paid to their employees. Those who actually worked in the mines were largely migrants who have gone back to their home states. Also affected are the drivers of the trucks who were outsiders though the trucks were owned by Goans and very often politicians at the grassroots level like sarpanchas and panchas in mining villages.

Manohar Parrikar has announced relief of up to Rs 15,000 to owners of trucks, provided they do not own more than three trucks. He has allotted a budget of Rs 15 crore for the rehabilitation of the mining dependent people. The barge owners have been given exemption from taxes for one year. But the worst affected is really the government of Goa which, next to the excise on alcohol, had depended on the royalty and the taxes on mining as the major source of revenue. It will be tough going for the Chief Minister, who announced a host of schemes to woo the electorate including the grant of Rs One lakh to women when they get married and an inflation allowance of Rs 1,000 to every woman whose family income does not exceed Rs Two lakh. But the ball is really in the Supreme Court, which cannot be hurried and will probably take its own sweet time to take up the issue. And even when it gives its verdict, the likelihood is that a large number of Goan mines will be shut down permanently and the magnitude of the ore business in Goa will go back to the 20 million tonnes, which is the sustainable capacity of the state.

Courtesy: Business India

Fr Eremito should keep politicians out

goanobserver — Sat, 18 May 2013 07:56:26 +0000

FR EREMITO Rebello, the convenor of ‘Goans for Dabolim Airport’ is currently doing a fantastic job of exposing the evil designs of our elected politicians by aggressively fighting against the proposed Mopa Airport project and trying to save the unique identity of Goa. The said project is indeed a big real estate scam, a curse which will definitely spell doom not just for Dabolim Airport, but also for Goa’s future/economy, as its most powerful tourism industry too will also suffer in the long run.

In fact, this Mopa airport project is not a gift for Goa (as being allege by some), but a ‘Maha-gift’ for Maharashtra. Our Goan politicians have bought large tracts of land at the venue for a song and are just waiting to go for a kill, due to which we see them today fully supporting this project for their own selfish gains.

I believe that Fr Eremito Rebello is currently planning (as per press reports) to take the support of ‘like-minded’ ministers/ MLAs to take his mass movement to its logical end. I think this would be suicide. I use the word ‘suicide’ because I have seen many politicians in the past hijacking such massive movements and making their own political careers by suddenly changing sides and working against the interest of the same Goans who once headed such massive movements in different parts of Goa. For example, the Konkani movement, Konkan Railway agitation, Meta Strips, medium of instruction, etc. I, therefore, feel that the ongoing anti-Mopa airport movement of Fr Eremito Rebello should remain as it is, a people’s movement and not turned into a political movement or a stepping stone for some politicians to make their own political careers in Goa.

Jerry Fernandes,
Saligao.

TOURISM PLAN

THE master tourism plan could benefit Goans hugely if the fruit of the tourism trees goes to the local people and not to outsiders. Fruit, I said, and not leaves and twigs.

We need to keep a constant and firm eye on this plan as, so far, large plots of land have been acquired in the past under very suspicious circumstances. At times, the projects for which the land has been acquired has not been used for its original purpose or not at all, so why acquire it?

Unless the major benefits of the tourism plan can go to the locals people, people need to be strongly against it as the plan is anti-Goan! It is the right of every village to demand a participatory role in the master tourism plan if there is going to be development in their villages or if the villages are going to be affected by the plan. Anything less is a scam. Anything less is not democracy. Goa is a small state and active participation of Goans in the plan is not only democratic, but manageable.

Joao Barros-Pereira,
Japan.

NOT A SWEEP

All the newspapers in Goa carried headlines that the BJP had swept the Ponda and Sanquelim Municipal elections. However, a perusal and an analysis of the results of all the 14 wards of the Ponda and the 11 wards of Sanquelim does not reveal so.

In Ponda, the BJP managed to poll only 5345 of the total 11290 valid votes which is only 47.34 %. In Sanquelim, it was still worse as the BJP got a mere 2001 of the total 5961 valid votes, which is 33.56%.

These results should come as no solace to the ruling BJP as despite being in power and with access to all the authority and official machinery, it was yet unable to ride on a clear overwhelming and decisive mandate.

The BJP has been accused of using the minority votes only to get elected and to later dump them. It will now stand a test in Ponda where it has to be seen whether the very experienced and capable Irwin Soares will be made the chairperson or not. Irwin Soares’ love for beef should not disqualify him from being chosen unanimously by the BJP-MGP alliance to head the Ponda Municipal Council. We shall soon know.

Aires Rodrigues,
Ribandar.

Back in the world of the living!

goanobserver — Sat, 11 May 2013 08:50:37 +0000

Tara Narayan

FOOD FOR thought, some more continuous food for thought while I’m into something called cardiac rehab post-CABG surgery. Sooner or later, it has to be back in the world of the living! I feel like I’ve been living for over a fortnight in a dark netherland, wondering hopelessly if I’m half-dead or half-alive…from the ICU of the Asian Heart Insititute to a twin-sharing room and then home in Juhu April 24 onwards and into something called cardiac rehab. It’s been a fortnight of a truly life-altering event in my 63 years of life on earth, even the dynamics of the mind change along with the body. The energy is back in my voice, although I still can’t shout! I keep telling my friends out here in Mumbai that I’m now a certified CABG or “cabbage”… that is, post-coronary artery bypass graft surgery.

The sutures were snipped off on April 24 and, taking a good look at myself, I feel like I must have been on a butcher’s block for some fine-tuned carving up… where my heart used to be I feel a tight knot, like my warm heart has turned into a cold stone. Don’t laugh, for some reason all the old Hindi songs featuring the human dil in it are haunting me, led by an old favourite “dil jalta hai to jalne do, aansoo na bahan, fariyad na kar…” Could be the theme song of my 43 years in India… oh, not so bad, of course, I guess reviewing of one’s life is on the cards if one is laid up on one’s back in a hospital room for days on end with various nurses from Kerala and Andhra Pradesh ‘toing and froing’ in to pump various medications in to me through a macabre portal they’ve set up down my left hand; like Draculas they’ve also been bleeding me for this and that study of my changing internal chemistry.

The meals which come and go feature from the stodgy to some brilliant salad relishes… I ask for some wholewheat bread for I’m not used to eating white bread! Then they decided I love Guju kichadi-kadi, so I get that noon and night. I realise it’s best not to complain ever; I tell somebody that I’m waiting for a hospital to provide pure de-chlorinated water (instead of McDowell’s plastic bottled water) and food which has no refined fats/flours/sugars/salts to patients… that would be making history in India at least.

HEALTHCARE should be more organic food-driven and not chemical drugs-driven, but alas the anti-health lobbies are too powerful in India. Although I like to think that hospitals are well placed to push for eating and drinking reforms. I mean, why should hospital canteens and restaurants offer bottled soft drinks and fried snacks and white bread sandwiches? Mercifully, the Asian Heart restaurant offers South Indian idli/upma, fresh juices and buttermilk, but much of it is dismal and overpriced to make a killing… and in any case, patients are not allowed to order from there, the restaurant is only for relatives/friends/visitors.

Three thin chappatis come along with my thali meal with katori sabzi, dal, curd (made of toned milk. so I don’t eat it). Much of the time I can manage only one chappati, two go to waste. Once I got some honey to sweeten my morning tea and I nearly rolled off my bed in surprise; a few more surprises, but okay I’m not grumbling. I wish somebody would put my friend Shonali Sabherwal of Soul Foods in charge of setting up patients’ menu at the Asian Heart. Oh, Shonali is heaven-sent for me. She rapidly earned a reputation for her macrobiotic tiffin meals and one day, fed-up of my Mumbai sister’s maid’s thick fat chapatti, I started ordering Shonali’s meals and am totally fida over the lunch meals she’s sending me. This is the kind of food I love! One lunch, a Thai menu of whole-wheat noodles, Khow Suey with tofu and veggies, the most wonderful spinach spiked with oregano seeds (even my fragile old mother was happy to eat some of it!), with toppings of green onion, ground peanut and red chutney, toasted garlic flakes. Another lunch is made up of brown rice, soft and delicious, I don’t think I’m ever going to eat white rice again; the chutney sauces she sends are truly worth licking my fingers over! She also makes scrumptious meals including white beans in cilantro pesto, brown rice croquettes, chillied sweet potatoes.

When I return to Goa, I’ll do a macrobiotic cuisine special, look out for it! Bit by bit, my normal strength is returning and here I am even able now to tap this out on my laptop. I had my first bath after coming home after a fortnight and felt like sitting under the tap for an hour! I’ve started stepping out, back for my 5.30 am aarti at the local mahadeo, but still can’t make it to Sheila’s Fresco Bakery down the Juhu streert or Godrej’s Nature Basket a little further up. One of these days, I’ll make it. I still can’t get over how all this happened to me to mess up my heart and Dr Oscar Rebello’s “You are a ticking bomb, Tara, go and do your operation!’ still rings in my conscience and nights I get up at 2 am thinking post-CABG, my heart is still a ticking bomb and what if it explodes all around me even now after I’ve been so obedient and listened to everybody!

Thrice a week, I go to back to the Asian Heart Institute for they have this wonderful gym and here I’m put through some paces to recover my strength. They say I’ll be as good as new soooo…..nn and back in Goa. Mumbai which was Bombay continues to wallow in rotten roads and sleazy metro scenes, but it is summer time and I notice the gulmohrs blooming gloriously scarlet everywhere, also the sunshine filled laburnums, queen’s trees, gold-studded copperpods, a few pink cassias. Oh, it is my old Bombay which I rejoice over and one of these mornings I will even take my Amrika sister Mala and go out to King’s Circle to breakfast ad Madras Café, real idli and ragi dosa, instead of the overrated con stuff in the up market eateries of Juhu!

What else? My friend Munmun Ghosh (author of Unhooked) turned up and added to my list of Hindi cinema songs featuring the heart…how about “Dil aisa kisi ne mera toda….” (a Kishore Kumar song), “Dil cheez kya hai, aap meri jaan leejiye…” (film star Rekha’s famous Umrao Jaan number), “Dil ne phir yaad kiya…” (Rafi I think), “Dil tadap tadap se kah raha hai….” (from film Madhumati), “Dil ek mandir hai…” (pity I didn’t treat mine like one!), “Dil jo na kah saka…” (from Bheegi Raat, a Mohammed Rafi song), one which is never far from my mind…”Dill hum hum kare, ghabraye…”(from Rudaali), a profoundly sweet song testifying to the vulnerability of the human heart!). The country’s most famous heart doctor, Dr Ramakant Panda, may have operated on my heart, but will my heart ever be the same again?
You take good care of your heart, my friends.

Twenty years of women in panchayats

goanobserver — Sat, 11 May 2013 08:37:44 +0000

By George Mathew

Going by the experience of the last 20 years, women will continue to emerge into public space in ever rising numbers, even in the face of resistance and hostility.

IT IS 20 years since the 73rd and 74th Constitutional Amendment Acts were passed by the Parliament. They got translated into the law of the land on April 24 and June 1, 1993, respectively. This was a historic moment in the history of this country because these two amendments constituted what could be termed as post-independent India’s most revolutionary exercise in democratic decentralisation and devolution of power. What gave these laws even more relevance was the fact that they mandated that one-third seats in all local governments would be reserved for women.

For me, the biggest significance of women’s reservation was that it unlocked the power, talent and commitment of millions of women for the progress of society and the country. Women who had earlier not stepped outside their homes could now participate as equals in the public space.

KARNATAKA INITIATIVE

THE idea of reserving seats for women in panchayats was introduced for the first time when Ramakrishna Hegde became the chief minister of Karnataka through the Panchayati Raj Act of 1985. Hegde, along with his minister for Rural Development and Panchayati Raj, Abdul Nazir Sab, made sure that 25% seats in panchayats and municipalities were reserved for women under the law. I remember at that time there were fears that women would not come forward to fill these posts. Yet, when I went to observe those elections, I discovered that for every seat reserved for a woman, there were at least three contestants!

The initiative proved so successful that when Rajiv Gandhi came to power, he wanted to do one better and reserved not just 25%, but 30% of seats for women at the panchayat level. Later, when VP Singh introduced the Panchayati Raj Bill, he advocated 33% reservations for women. Then came Narasimha Rao. As prime minister, he saw that “reservations for women should be one-third of the total number of seats” in all local bodies. In 2005, when Nitish Kumar became chief Minister of Bihar, his dream was to give 50% reservation for women, which became a reality in the following year. The United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government, wanting to appear women-friendly, took a Cabinet decision in 2010 to make it 50% nationally, but the Parliament has not yet amended the existing Acts. However, today, 15 states have followed Bihar.

I remember the first panchayat election that took place after the law came into being. It was in Madhya Pradesh and the chief minister of the state at that time was Digvijaya Singh. It was very inspiring to see a state that was among India’s poorest taking the lead on this process, beating even its so-called advanced counterparts like Kerala and Tamil Nadu. The year was 1994 and the mood was rife with expectations. But those elections and the following years were marred in my mind by the violence that accompanied them. Sometimes the women who stood for office were actually stripped naked by forces that just could not accept the idea of women taking positions of leadership. For centuries, these very forces had ensured that women were not allowed to come out of their homes. Now that they did, they wanted to intimidate them, punish them, drive them back into their homes. Then, my concern was: “Panchayats at work what it means for the oppressed” (EPW July, 1996).

Because of interventions from enlightened citizens, these attempts failed. There were also wonderful instances of genuine women’s empowerment, even from the very earliest days. I remember Geeta Rathore of Jamonia Talab gram panchayat in Madhya Pradesh’s Sehore district. In the early 90s, she had been elected sarpanch from a reserved seat, but in the year 2000 she repeated this feat - this time from a non-reserved seat. That she could do this testified to her personal growth from being a shy homemaker to a community leader in every sense of the term, working hard to change the face of her panchayat and ensuring the well-being of its people. She was able to renovate water tanks, build a school building, construct village roads, get people to plant trees - and even fight domestic violence.

TAMIL NADU

TAMIL Nadu was one of the states that delayed the local government elections. It was in 1996, when M Karunanidhi became chief minister, that the elections were held. One particularly inspiring woman who was successful in being elected as corporator of Madurai Corporation was K Leelavathi. She came from the weavers’ community and was very conscious of the real needs of the people. Water shortage was a huge problem in her area and even after pipelines were laid, no water came through the taps. This meant that even the poorest of the poor had to pay for water, which was being supplied by the local mafia who ran water tanker services. Six months after she was elected, Leelavathi’s efforts to get water for her locality bore fruit. When water gushed through the taps, there was widespread delight, even dancing. But she had, in the process, obviously alienated a powerful section. Next day morning, when this woman stepped out of her home to buy provisions, six people came with sickles and killed her on the spot.

I remember taking a train to Madurai to understand why this had happened. I then realised that social change has both a conflict and an evolutionary dimension. When radical change bring women like Leelavathi to the forefront, it is inevitable that there will be resistance - often leading to bloodshed. It is the price that is often demanded for the transition we make to a more humane and evolved society.

But with all its challenges, the 73rd Amendment proved to be a catalyst for change. Today, 1.2 million women are making their entry into public life every five years breaking barriers of class, caste and culture. Initially, they may have depended on the men within their families to help them, but this trend too has changed in many parts of the country with women showing the ability to discharge their duties as public representatives.

Many significant social interventions have taken their cue from panchayati raj. For instance, the idea of gender budgeting, where the component for women in budgetary allocations is clearly demarcated, emerged from this very process. But what I consider its single biggest impact is that it has been able to send out a message to every family - and there are at least 300 families in every panchayat - that women are equal to men.

This amazing empowerment of women at the grassroots is still a work in progress, but it can never be reversed. The floodgates have opened; they cannot now be shut again. Today, the old cry - from gram sabha to Lok Sabha - is ringing in the air. Going by the experience of the last 20 years, women will continue to emerge into public space in ever rising numbers, even in the face of resistance and hostility. They will not give up and, finally, I have no doubt that they will march in full force into state assemblies and Parliament.

(George Mathew is Chairman, Institute of Social Sciences, New Delhi, as was associated with the Panchayati Raj movement for three decades.)

Girls reign supreme

goanobserver — Sat, 11 May 2013 08:12:21 +0000

Girls outwit the boys this year around too. NIDA SAYED caught up with some of the girls who exceeded at the HSSCE and asked them about the strategies they adopted to prepare for their exams.

THE RESULTS of Higher Secondary School Certificate Examination, 2013 were announced earlier this week. Out of the 12,716 candidates who had registered for the HSSC exam 2013, 12,707 appeared and 10,542 passed.

The state thus recorded an overall pass percentage of 82.96%. Students of the vocational stream were said to have received the highest pass percentage with 87.83%, followed by students of science stream with 84.98% and that of commerce stream with 83.86%. Students in the arts stream recorded the lowest pass percentage of 74.68%.

As usual, the girls fared better with 84.69% girls having passed while only 80% of the 4,968 boys who appeared made it through the exams. Tanya Keni of Parvatibai Chowgule College stood first in Goa in the Arts stream. She scored 570 marks out of 600 with full marks in the subject of Logic and got 95% in the HSSC exam. “I completed my std XII in Parvatibai Chowgule College. My main strategy was to revise every day’s portion on that particular day and the entire week’s revision over the weekend. I would study regularly for about an hour or two. Before the exams, I dedicated the entire month of February to studies.

“According to me, while preparing for HSSC examination, students should keep in mind that it’s just like any other examination and there is no need to get tense about it. Just be regular in studies and neat in your papers and that is the only key to your success in the examination.”

Tanya wants to graduate in psychology and has a keen interest in classical dance. “Though I want to do my bachelor’s in psychology, I also learn bharatanatyam and I want to pursue a career in it.”

TIMETABLE

ANOTHER topper with impressive marks is Gauri Pradeep Kholkar. An alumnus of St Xavier’s Higher Secondary School Mapusa, Gauri has scored 95.83% in science with a total of 575 out of 600, making her the top ranker in the 2013 HSSC exam. She wants to pursue a career in computer engineering. “Regular studying reduces stress,” she says. “The method I adopted was making a study timetable allotting equal time to each subject about six to seven hours a day. Besides that, solving a lot of question papers is of big help to increase one’s speed. Other important factors are time management, speed and planning.”

Prajakta Parab from Commerce stream whose exam result for HSSC 2013 was 93% (558/600) says, “I had a fixed time table. I studied nearly for 8 to 10 hours a day. Students should try and solve board papers of various years and be systematic in their approach. One should keep in mind the time limit for every paper and answer accordingly. Thorough revision is also a must. While answering the paper, answer to the point. ” The student of DM’s Higher Secondary Mapusa gives due credit to her teachers, “My teachers helped me a lot with my difficulties.” Prajakta would like to become a chartered accountant and perhaps study further after that.

Gauri Kenkre, who also topped in commerce with 92.67%, proudly shares, “My total is 556 out of 600.” She is perhaps the only candidate in Goa to have received full marks in mathematics for HSSC exam 2013. “I followed a practice of studying regularly right from the start of Std XII for 6-7 hours a day. I did not have a fixed study timetable as such, but I would set a target for myself everyday and would make sure that I achieved it. For mathematics and accountancy, I used to solve as many sums as possible for practice. Once I got thorough with the textbook, I would go through different question papers to test myself.

“Studying regularly is one of the most important factors that every student needs to keep in mind as it helps you get rid of all exam related stress and anxiety and it instils confidence in you. It is also essential that you take good care of your health and fitness as a healthy mind and body can enhance your learning capacity. Do not sacrifice your sleep too much as your brain too needs some rest. Instead, utilise more time during the day. Also, it is not advisable to sit with your books throughout the day. It is of utmost importance that you take a break and spend some time doing what you like such as reading, playing games or going outside to get some fresh air.” Gauri Kenkre says that her ambition is to be a chartered accountant, like her father and brother.

INTERNET AIDS

WHILE the tradition of renting and referring to library books has not completely died out, Gen-Y finds it easier resorting to the internet. According to Prajakta Parab, “To an extent, the internet is helpful as it provides us with a lot of information to enhance our knowledge. If there is a concept which we cannot understand we can always research it on the internet.”

“Through the internet, one gets to know additional information” says Gauri Kholkar, “A lot of educational videos and charts help make studies interesting and easy to understand.”

However, Tanya Keni begs to differ. “During examination, I did not use internet for exam preparation. I would only use it to check my examination centre or exam dates. Other than that, I did not use it. But I would say the internet in a way can be helpful when a student does not have notes; it is much easier to obtain them on internet through mail.”

The consensus, however, is that regular study is the key to success. Students, take note.