People Speak

Beyond The Regional Plan 2011

Averthanus L. D’Souza.
The Goa Bachao Abhiyan (Save Goa Campaign) can legitimately take pride in having forced the Rane Government to scrap the Regional Plan for Goa - 2011 as being anti-developmental, anti-ecological and anti-people. It is quite obvious

that the sanctions and approvals granted under the now discredited Regional Plan since the time of its Notification will have the undesirable effects which the Abhiyan has vigorously opposed. In fact, any compromise on this issue will nullify all the efforts of the Abhiyan so far. The Rane Government, and the colluding M.L.As are desperately trying to get away with the devastation which they have unleashed on Goa’s ecological, demographic and geographical heritage. However, the Regional Plan -2011 was only the tip of the iceberg. It epitomized the deeper rot which has plagued good governance in Goa. The corruption is not limited to the individual acts of piracy indulged in by the Ministers (including the Chief Minister) and the M.L.As. The entire system of governance has been corrupted to its very core, almost beyond retrieval.

Even after the Save Goa Campaign has achieved its limited objective of scrapping the Regional Plan - 2011 from the date of its Notification, the deeper and more important malaise will still remain to be remedied if we really have to “Save Goa.” In effect, this means that the focus of the Save Goa Campaign will need to be enlarged considerably from the very limited focus on the scrapping of the Regional Plan - 2011.

We have had the experience of the citizens of Goa rallying round specific issues – like the Konkan Railway alignment, the Nylon 6.6. project, the Ramponkar’s problems, and the Metastrips project. Our experience has been that as soon as these specific issues were addressed, the mass movements gradually petered out. It is imperative that the energy which has been generated by the present campaign against the Regional Plan - 2011 not be allowed to be dissipated. Even with the scrapping of the Regional Plan, there is still need to “Save Goa” from the rapacious ambitions of the politicians, bureaucrats, industrialists and commercial brigands who are trying to enrich themselves at the cost of everything which the Goan citizens cherish dearly.

CITIZENS HAVE NO EFFECTIVE LOBBY.

One important reality which the Goan citizen has to become aware of is the fact that in a functioning democracy, there are many “interest groups” – like business houses, commercial groups, manufacturers, owners of trawlers, those who are involved in the hospitality industry, etc. These “interest groups” are normal and legitimate in any democracy. They work hard (using all means) to safeguard their own interests. However, the second (and painful) reality is that the citizens do not have a common “interest group” and are not able to “lobby” with the elected representatives (MLAs) or Ministers or bureaucrats to safeguard their own interests. This is why, the policies made by the Government more often than not reflect the interests of the organized “interest groups” such as the Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Travel and Tourism industry, the Tourist Taxi Union/s etc. Citizens are almost always left in the lurch and have to be content with making individual or small group representations to petty bureaucrats or the local MLA, who, mostly make a pretence of listening to their representations, but who, have their own priorities which have been influenced by the more powerful and influential lobbies.

It is very (very) difficult, indeed to galvanize the citizens to come together to pursue a common (agreed) cause. The Regional Plan – 2011 was a fortuitous opportunity which united the Goans as no other issue has done so far. The citizens found a voice which was loud and clear and which showed no signs of wavering in its pursuit of an agreed goal. The Goa Bachao Abhiyan brought together not only individuals but also groups which are committed to various causes such as civic, environmental, women’s and children’s welfare, consumer action, etc. No other movement was able to bring together so many disparate groups as the Abhiyan. This is a unique phenomenon which should not be allowed to die.

Since the Abhiyan has been so successful in influencing the Government to concede to the “voice of the people”, there are many citizens who are now requesting that the Abhiyan convert itself into a political party and field candidates in the forthcoming elections. Expectations have been raised, and people see the Abhiyan as an option to the corruption of the Congress Party and the communalism of the BJP. It would be very unfortunate, however, if the Goa Bachao Abhiyan succumbed to these pressures and assumed a party political role. It would lose its credibility as a “citizens’ movement” which has no partisan political axe to grind. If it adopted a political agenda, the citizens would cease to have a non-partisan, purely civic movement to make their voice heard. The political parties provide only one instrument of representation of the wishes of the people. More often than not, political parties have been shown to be inadequate to the task of truly representing the citizens. They succumb to the pressures of the organized lobbies and policies often reflect the interest of the more powerful and more influential lobbies.

The citizens need an instrument (or a platform) which represents the larger interests of the citizens qua citizens. In a sense this is a political demand, while, at the same time, not being partisan in its objective. In the past, the voice of the citizen was not heard. The Goa Bachao Abhiyan has assumed the role of the “Voice of the People.” This is a tremendous achievement which needs to be sustained. It would be a terrible disaster, indeed, if this Voice of the People of Goa were to become silent, once again, because of the dissipation of the energy that was brought together on the issue of the Regional Plan.

The Governments in Goa – whether Congress, BJP, MGP or NCP or coalitions of these, have had neither the vision, nor the skills to reach out beyond their own petty interests to promote the Common Good of Goa. The opportunity is NOW. CARPE DIEM.

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