http://www.navhindtimes.com/articles.php?Story_ID=080426
Crux of the Matter EDITORIAL Dr Oscar Rebello's resignation as the convener of the Goa Bachao Abhiyan (GBA) has shocked all quarters, as he had through the mass movement that built up around him for the scrapping of the earlier Regional Plan emerged as a rare leader in Goa's recent history. He had: professional excellence, simplicity, pleasing personality, objectivity, broadmindedness, public zeal, impeccable integrity and political ideology without any electoral interest. These are qualities we all know are missing in politicians in or out of government; but unfortunately they are missing in most of non-government politicians who go by the name of NGO activists and social workers too. Impeccable integrity of course is becoming rarer and rarer among 'social workers' many of whom are discovering newer and newer ways of making money by making noise. But even the few 'social workers' who have not joined the activist-extortionist bandwagon would be lacking in other qualities Dr Rebello has -- for instance, objectivity and broadmindedness. But then, GBA was a heterogeneous organisation without a definite political agenda and a loose umbrella of groups and individuals of various kinds. It is shocking to hear that Dr Rebello was a victim of nasty email purportedly because he would not follow the line of certain groups and individuals. We live in a democratic set-up and everyone has a right to express his or her idea. But at the same time democracy moves on by resolving the issues. The issues the GBA raised -- change of land use, land grabbing by developers, destruction of ecology and protecting Goan identity -- were fundamental to the future of Goa. GBA had come to occupy a position where people looked up to it for vision and guidance on what was good and what was bad for Goa. Unfortunately, the vision was missing, and so was guidance. To say that 'let people decide' is easier in theory. 'People' are not angels. We have seen how 'people' have taken bribes to elect 'representatives' to state Assembly and local bodies. We have seen that gram sabhas are not always inspired by public interest. It is wrong on the part of any group or individual to 'theoretically devolve' all powers to the 'people' and 'practically allow' grassroot modules of apex-level corruption grow. Who will decide if one village wants a bridge and the other village does not want it, though public interest of the state demands that the two villages be connected by a bridge? Which of the two 'peoples' we would side with: the 'people' supporting the project or the 'people' opposing it? It is for mediation of contrary interests that a government exists. The GBA succeeded in forcing the government to denotify Regional Plan 2011, which had seen changes made without public knowledge. Now we are trying to formulate Regional Plan 2021. It is the responsibility of the GBA that is represented on the Task Force to ensure that a transparent, non-destructive, sustainable and inclusive Plan is in place. It is unfortunate that some groups and individuals have been pursuing their own agendas and asking gram sabhas to adopt a 'selective' development policy: for instance in mega housing projects. The crux of the matter is Goa needs to move forward. We cannot wait for all the engines of 'development' to stop and then wake up in alarm. Thousands of Goan boys and girls are migrating to other states because there are no jobs here. Many of them may never come back. The government is committed to approve only non-polluting industries, like IT, biotech, food processing, etc. As far as housing is concerned, we need to examine objectively who constitutes the majority of the market for builders: Goans or outsiders. We can make a housing policy on the basis of needs and the laws of the land and implement it.
