VM De Malar, "Please come back, Mr Premji", HERALD, August 30, 2005. [An "open letter" to the Chairman of Wipro after the latter's recent visit]
The reality: "We're still only a rest and recreation stop for the players in India's spectacular economic rise .. The most we can hope for is that the newly rich from those [dynamic Indian] cities come here once in a while and spend some of their piles of money in our hotels and on our cheap t-shirts". The problem: "We have a perpetually unstable government ... We have a disgraceful infrastructure ... Even our best competitive asset our vaunted quality of life is deteriorating steadily as garbage overwhelms the system's ability to cope and illegal construction mushrooms everywhere." The opportunity: "Any head of a multinational cannot fail to be impressed by the global crossroads that has emerged here in Goa .. We're beautifully situated short airplane hops from some of the fastest growing economic hotbeds in the world. We have goodwill; Goa is among India's top ten best known international brands. .. Our state is small and manageable enough that truly dedicated and visionary leadership could ramp up the infrastructure within five years to the world class, failure resistant standards demanded by Wipro .." The bottom line: "Goa is missing the boat on virtually all counts and the political class is squarely to blame." --------------- Rays of hope are sorely needed in this dismal landscape of governance.