BUILDING LINKS WORLDWIDE, WITHOUT EVEN AN EMAIL ADDRESS Some home truths of how Goa's NRI Facilitation Centre works
By Frederick Noronha GOA'S POLITICIANS and officials say they have ambitious plans for the state's NRI Facilitation Centre. But officials and office-bearers don't access their own email -- and most infact don't even have email addresses -- even though this body is meant to build links with expats scattered across the globe and in other parts of India. Likewise, nobody seems clear about what role this four-year-old body can actually play. Officials and appointees running it are vague; and worse, except for a few from the Gulf region, most of Goa's expats themselves don't have an idea of what exactly this body can, and should, be doing for them. Goa, because of its early encounter with colonialism, is one of the regions in South Asia which has had people migrating since literally hundreds of years. No exaggeration! Yet, when it comes to building links with its diaspora, the state-funded NRI Facilitation Centre seems to be largely uninfluenced by the achievements of other Indian states, like Andhra or Punjab and even Gujarat. Such states have been far more organised and focussed in taking steps in this direction. Little seems to have been done to even find out what the others have done. Four years after it was set up in December 2001 at the personal initiative of the larger-than-life engineer-turned-politico and former chief minister Manohar Parrikar, who ran the previous government virtually single-handedly, the NRI Facilitation Centre doesn't have much to show for. Some of its past activities have been clearly politicised and mis-directed. Currently too, hints thrown out here suggest that the NRI Facilitation Centre is seen more as a juicy carrot that can be used to feed political allies and supporters of those in power. Or those who continue to call the shots whether their icons are in power or not. Year-end NRI conventions have been poorly attended and hardly focussed on successful bridge-building with the relatively high proportion of Goan expats. Now, the authorities are talking of holding a non-resident meet in Hyderabad, a place little known for a significant Goan migration. For the NRI Facilitation Centre, doing something effective means going down the old road of handing out taxpayers' money to a favourite few, after working out 'projects' that would obviously keep supporters happy but hardly make an iota of a difference to the constituency everyone sings paeans of praise to here, the NRI. These home-truths emerged from an information interaction with the NRI Facilitation Centre held earlier this week, called at the suggestion of Rene Barreto, a Goan based in the UK. In the absence of the elderly and ailing chairperson, ex-editor Chandrakant Keni -- who is seen as being close to former chief minister Parrikar, and was the otherwise inexplicable choice to head the NRI centre since its constitution in end-2001 -- the meeting was chaired by the suave retired educationist and former principal Madhav S Kamat. Earlier, he was principal of the prominent M.E.S College in Vasco da Gama. Goa's NRI Facilitation Centre was set up in the year 2001. Its 'charter' included registering "all" expat Goans in a databank, channelising more entrepreneurial skills of expats back to Goa, building schemes that benefit the non-resident, and undertaking measures to protect their land and properties of the NRIs. Today, these goals have hardly been obtained. In a particularly inept and inexplicable operation, the Centre has managed to register just 635 non-resident names in their database. See http://www.nrigoa.com Considering that there could be anything between 300,000 to 500,000 non-residents beyond India and within, this is not even a fraction of one percent of the total! It explains rather glibly: "Goans everywhere cherish their Goanness and Goan roots with passion and pride. It is estimated that over 500,000 persons of Goan origin live outside Goa; 250,000 live in the rest of India and another 250,000 live abroad. The outmigration of Goans, which started with the advent of the Portuguese in Goa in 1510, has a chequered history, but the fact remains that political, religious and cultural compulsions, droughts and famines as well as the search for education and employment led Goans in large numbers to leave the land of their ancestors." In terms of 'schemes' for expats, the only figures that the Centre has to talk about is a single case of Rs 200,000 paid to Augusta Lidia Fernandes from Cuncolim whose husband was killed in 'terrorist' violence in Saudi Arabia in May 2004. In addition, of course, the then CM Parrikar "at the time of the Iraq War... expressed solidarity with the Goans in Iraq and offered all possible help, including paying of the air fare in case of need for evacuation". He is also credited with having taken up "the issue of difficulties of school admission being faced by children of Goa NRIs in the Gulf countries, especially Kuwait." About protecting "land and properties" of NRIs in Goa, the less said the better. This small state has had to cope with politicians who unleashed lop-sided 'tenancy' laws that grabbed land from the middle-sized (or even tiny) land-holder to rapaciously give it over to the landless. Or to those whose greed knew no bounds, were politically influential, and claimed to be 'landless'. At the other extreme, Goa also has had to cope with land-sharks disguised as politicians, who would at times go all the way to threaten take-over of your private land under the draconian land-acquisition laws (solidly built to serve a purpose in colonial British times) if you failed to sell it to them at a price they were ready to settle for! Today, the main documents that the NRI Facilitation Centre has to hand around, besides a note pad, is a 'social security scheme for Goan NRIs' launched by "Hon'ble Chief Minister of Goa Mr Manohar Parrikar" in December 2002. Look closely and what this turns out to be is just another insurance scheme, from one of India's none-too-efficient state-run insurance companies. Make no mistake: you get nothing under this scheme. You're just sold the idea that someone is helping you when you pay your own insurance premium! Policies offered don't seem to make much sense either. If you have enough cash-flow to regularly pay the premia, you would not need to depend on the small pittance offered for transportation of the body (Rs 50,000) or a health crisis (Rs 100,000). Of course, the government-run firms never 11. The fine print says, "Claim experience of the scheme will be reviewed at the end of one year from launching, and (the) appropriate loading premium shall be charged for (the) further continuation of the scheme". Who heads the institution also shapes it. NRI Facilitation Centre didn't gain from the fact that some of those who lobbied for it to be set up -- like returned expat lawyer Aires Rodrigues -- moved out and cut links with the Centre. Today, some of the eminent personages on the NRI Facilitation Centre include ex-editor Chandrakant Keni, politician Herculano Dourado, Yatin Kakodkar (we're reminded, just in case we forgot, that he's the "son of former chief minister Shashikala Kakodkar"), and ex-CM Parrikar IITian buddy Dinar Bhatkar. Nodal officer "at present" is Melvin Vaz, while Ms Vaidya handles the work on a part-time basis, we're told. As if this is not enough, there's an advisory committee of other political heavy-weights and friends. There's M S Surlakar (who has also been vice chairman of the Institute Menezes Braganza, taken over by the previous Rane government amidst controversial circumstances), cartoonist Mario Miranda, the politically-ambitious post-retirement former Indian Army chief General (Retd) Sunith Rodrigues (currently Governor of Punjab), Dinar Bhatkar, and priest-turned-management guru Fr Romald D'Souza (who happens to be the brother of ex-CM Dr Wilfred de Souza, but also known for his work in the field of management education). To complicate the functioning of the NRI Facilitation Centre, it was tagged on to the Economic Development Corporation, a state financial institution with its own controversial past. This became more than clear when two top politicians (Parrikar and Luizinho Faleiro) began an angry slanging match of who had politicised and milked dry this institution more. Its ability to funded unworthy institutions has become more than obvious. Unfortunately, the NRI Facilitation Centre sees an odd role for itself. It wants to do the job of others, and not it's own. It goes about organising seminars on all esoteric subjects -- including talks on communal harmony, during the BJP rule in Goa -- and thinks that liaisoning with expats only means passing on their queries to the relevant departments. Last year, just 71 expats attended the oddly-named 'Gomant Vishwa Sammelan', or expat conference. But officials take solace in the fact that "31 different countries" were represented at that meet! But merely complaining is not good enough. Expats themselves need to take large part of the blame for not staying abreast with what's going on here at the NRI Facilitation Centre, let alone lobby for positive change. Added to this reality is the fact that the EDC officials are in a hurry to get NRIs to boost the investments which tapered during the Parrikar years. (Earlier investments in Congress years were high, but of a very dubious kind. Many fled after their tax holidays ended. Some IT units in the intended 'Electronics City', that now houses baking units and printing presses at Verna, were found to be as fraudulent as they come. EDC's initiatives in squeezing investments from expats is not just not going to happen, but probably send out the wrong signals and "we're after your money" impressions which hardly help in building a long-standing relationship. Prof Kamat stresses that the NRI Facilitation Centre "believes in partnerships" and is "totally non-political, and totally secular". "It means good to every section of the Goan community, irrespective of caste, community and religion," he argues. These cliches apart, it only goes to show to what depths sectarianism by governments (living under the shadow of MGP-UGP divides, and the ideologies of hate from other parts of India). in Goa have degenerated to in recent years, that such issues need to be talked about at all! So, in such settings, what can be the NRI Facilitation Centre's role? Where does it fit in? Problems are aplenty. In a small state like Goa, finding solutions isn't something many specialise in. But clearly, there's a lot of positives looming on the horizon. One isn't quite sure though that government-named bodies are the best to take the initiatives forward. Many examples are coming up from the ground level, showing what well-intentioned individuals -- specially expats returning home early, or those not tired despite being retired. There are some too, who decided not to migrate -- not for lack of options -- and have been working on interesting initiatives. Maybe a full book can be written about such initiatives, big and small. But if you're expecting expats to invest Rs 100 crores in some industry that brings in easy jobs, you're probably looking at the wrong place. But all bridges start with small foundations. Prof Kamat says that Goa "discovered" that there were more than 3000 "voluntary agencies" or non-governmental organisations, in the state. Apparently, a very loose definition is being adopted here. Any body registered under the Societies Registration Act of 1860 is included in this category. It includes 14 Rotary clubs, 51 Lions clubs, 36 Jaycees clubs, 11 Samrat clubs and more. Not all are active. Not all are motivated towards doing good for society alone. Goa has know its ranks of shell bodies set up to milk easy-to-obtain funds from the government or claim other official benefits! But, there are enough signs of embers being lit where citizens are launching attempts of their own to build a better society. The mere fact that the Internet allows for the free flow of ideas and suggestions makes it possible for citizens to work out plans on their own -- though this is no substitute to the need for good, efficient, non-corrupt, non-bigoted and un-sectarian governance. There are problem areas which however need to be acknowledged: Rene Barreto pointed out that Goans in Goa "don't think much of Goans abroad". Overseas too, there's a pecking order in place -- with the Goan from back home being somewhere lowest in the pile, below those from Bombay, Pakistan, and centres that didn't allow their migrants to grow as affluent as did some. For the Goan abroad, the information gap is killing. Anyone can take him or her for a ride, because there's no information available about how much you should be paying your taxi driver, whether you have a right to build on your own land and under what conditions, or when exactly you can expect to get that government office to do your work. Clearly, a lot of Goa's inefficiencies can be directly blamed on the fact that we are indeed a very information-poor state. Reason to admit that we journalists have been doing a poor job... apart from chasing statements of politicians, and topplings of governments. Some governments have clearly tried to adapt to cyber-times. Goa's clearly hasn't. At the end of the day, officials and government-appointed persons, need to stop thinking like the bureaucracy. You don't need an organisation to get things done. You don't need a print-out handed to a boss to even acknowledge an incoming e-mail. You don't need additional staff whose faulty vision and starting-point would anyway ensure the job never gets done. Someone pointed out that the NRI Facilitation Centre hardly has any representation of NRIs on it. In reply, the promise is that once things are changed, and a society is set up, the "new dispensation" would have more NRI representatives. Let's look back after some years and see how the situation shapes up. Obviously, something is rotten in a state which has had South Asia's earliest expat population. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= CONTACT DETAILS: NRI Goa Facilitation Centre, EDC House, Dr A B Road, Panjim Goa 403001 Ph +91-832-2227608 and via EPABX 222 4542. Email [EMAIL PROTECTED] website http://www.nrigoa.com =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=