Most of my childhood friends were simple people, and life was very beautiful! The whole of Goa was more of a "big village with easy going people". Since that time, Goa has come a long way. In the last 48 years, Goa has made a lot of progress in the fields of Education, Health, Electricity, Tourism and Pharma industry. Thanks to all these, the per capita income of Goa is the highest in India. We also have the lowest birth rate and the lowest infant mortality in the country.
Since liberation, our infrastructure has also improved a lot compared to what it was during my younger days. Today, the roads, electricity and telephones with STD facilities have reached every village of Goa, and the quality of these facilities is improving with every passing day. I am sure our late Freedom Fighters would have been very happy at these developments.
On the other hand, there are a few issues that needs our urgent attention. The two major areas of concern are- 1. The deteriorating law and order situation in Goa, 2. The "zero priority" that is being given for the development of Agriculture in Goa and 3. The continued exploitation of our fragile Ecology by the greedy real estate and mining lobbies in Goa. In my opinion these three issues have to be addressed immediately and efficiently.
If we wish to have a "safer and a greener Goa with a better infrastructure", we have to remain focussed on this dream... a cherished dream of most Goans. In order to achieve this goal, there has to be 1. A "zero tolerance" for criminal activities in Goa, 2. Scientific revival of agriculture in Goa, and 3. Stricter laws to control the ecological exploitation of Goa.
A few days ago, our Tourism Minister alleged that Goa has become the 'Rape Capital of India". Some politicians and a section of the local media did not agree with him. Our Tourism minister might have exaggerated a bit, but there is a lot of truth in his statement. I personally know a couple of my foreigner patients, who were molested and robbed between 8 pm to 10 pm when they were walking along the beaches of South Goa. Most of them chose not to file any police complains because of the bad experiences their friends encountered at the Police Stations in Goa.
In my opinion, for a famous tourism destination like Goa, 8 to 10 pm is certainly not "late hours" by any standard. Why should tourists come to Goa when they already many options of cheaper and safer destinations? If we wish to have more tourists and improve the quality of tourism in Goa, we got to improve on the existing law and order situation. Our government has to show greater urgency and better commitment to address this issue.
According to me, there are two "primary reasons" for the declining law and order situation in Goa. And sadly, they are both interrelated. The two reasons are as follows:-
1. Anti- social elements getting into the main stream Political Parties of Goa.
2. Corruption and political interference in the functioning of Police Department of Goa.
The way the things are going on in Goa, it looks like our Police and Politicians are guarding the selfish interests of each other.
Recently I came across a 'letter to the Editor' (Herald 19/12/09) that read... "Criminal activities such as robberies, dacoities, goondaism, drugs, gambling, rapes, murders, pelting of stones at houses, exploding bombs, etc are on the rise. If anyone approaches the police department to file complaints, they are not registering them and conducting investigations properly. The accused or suspects go scot-free due to manipulations".
As I personally know of a couple of cases where the law abiding citizens got a "raw deal" from the Police Department of Goa, I fully agree with the contents of the above letter. It is a fact that, most of our Police officers in Goa, "joyfully" allow the local politicians to literally run their department through the back door. Money and muscle power has begun to rule Goa. It is time we call a spade, a spade; and address this issue urgently.
The writer of the above mentioned letter made a noteworthy suggestion- "The Government needs to come with a strict legislation to tackle the errant police personnel and get proper justice". Sometime ago, I had the opportunity of reading an interesting line in another local newspaper... "How can our government bring about good legislations when nearly 50% of our existing MLAs have been "law breakers" in the past?". And that is a very good observation. The quality of our local MLAs has surely declined over the years. Money and muscle power has begun to control politics in Goa.
I believe, the quality of 'governance' depends on the quality of the political leaders of that State. If we want to see a better quality of law and order situation in Goa, we need to elect better quality MLAs... leaders of integrity and strong convictions. Fortunately. Goa is not in Pafistan. It is in India, where the Election System has surely evolved, and it is at par with any of the developed country in the West and America. It is no more easy for a corrupt politician to rig or manipulate an election in Goa.
Taking the above facts into consideration, I firmly believe that, it is possible for us, the people of Goa to elect "better quality leaders" to govern our State. As a tribute to our freedom fighters, and as an "act of accountability" towards the future generations of Goa, let us take a personal pledge today, the 19th of December 2009...
" I solemnly pledge to work towards electing better quality MLAs by saying no to the money that may be offered to me (by the corrupt candidates) during the next elections. I do not want an anti-social element as my MLAs. I will educate others, and work towards electing political leader who will work towards restoring good law and order situation in Goa".
It is a Pledge we got to take... we got to take it for the sake of Goa, for the future of our children, and for the sake of our self-pride and dignity. We cannot allow anybody to take us for granted anymore. It is our birthright "To have a safer and a greener Goa with a better infrastructure". If our existing leaders don't get this message, let us not hesitate to dump them in the 'dustbin of history'.
Cheers to Goa, and cheers to you my friend!
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment