VISHVANATH PAI PANANDIKER
Three principle features of Goa�s success are (i) Democracy (ii) Demography and (iii) Development. Although it took Goa a while to adjust to democratic processes given the long history of authoritarian Portuguese rule, by the 1970s Goa had made a good transition. The political instability in the 1990s was largely because of the incapacity of the ruling Congress Party to understand the changing �politics� on the ground. Goa is now moving towards basically a two party polity, i.e. the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Given the Goan ethos, the BJP has put a moderate face on its political agenda.
Goa�s political demography has changed since 1961. According to the Census data, the Hindu population has gone up from about 61% in 1961 to about 67% in 2001. The Catholic population has dropped from about 37% to about 27%. However, the Muslim population has increased from 0.5% to about 7% largely due to in-migration. Interestingly, Goa had a total of 10 chief ministers since 1963 of which five were Hindus and five were Roman Catholic Christians despite Goa�s political demography.
Goa�s most impressive performance has been in the demographic transition. From a birth rate of about 34 per thousand in 1961, it is now 14.5 per thousand � the lowest in the country. Behind this also is the dramatic decline in Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) from about 70 in 1961 to as low as 11 per thousand in 2004 � again the lowest in the country. The Techno-Economic Survey of Goa, Daman and Diu prepared by the National Council of Applied Economic Research in 1964 stated: �The general health standards in Goa, Daman and Diu are poor. In fact, the available information shows the territory�s position to be slightly worse than the average standards of the country�.
9 A rapid decline in IMR, Maternal Mortality Rate (MMR) plus access to family planning services brought down the Total Fertility Rate (TFR) below replacement level in Goa by the late 1980s. Goa thus was the first state to move towards population stabilization, the vital demographic transition which UP is expected to make only in 2100!
E
conomic development was equally dramatic especially in terms of poverty reduction and per capita income. For instance, even in 1973-74 Goa�s poverty ratio was estimated at about 45% as against about 53% in Maharashtra or 59% in Kerala. By 1999-2000, Goa�s poverty level had dropped to a little over 4% with rural poverty as low as 1.35%. In contrast, in Maharashtra, it was over 25% and in Kerala about 13%. Rural poverty level in Kerala was estimated in 1999-2000 at over 20% and in Maharashtra about 24% as against 1.35% in Goa.10 When a comparison is made with Bihar, the poverty level was over 47% with rural poverty over 48%. Sustained growth rates, especially in the secondary and tertiary sectors, had practically wiped out rural poverty in Goa � a lesson of economic demography which the country has yet to understand. And most impressively, the per capita income in Goa, estimated at around Rs 70,000 in 2004, is way ahead of Maharashtra or Kerala not to speak of the �poverty� belt of UP, Bihar, MP, and Orissa.Why did Goa succeed in reducing its dependence on agriculture and moved fast on secondary and tertiary sectors? Perhaps, Goa was lucky to be spared the Nehruvian �socialistic pattern� and the stifling fetters of the public sector on the national economy. Goa did not have much of a public sector and its large public spending on social sector was wisely routed through the private sector. Education was a prime example. The bulk of Goan children go to government aided primary and secondary schools rather than government schools where the quality of education is extremely poor.
In other words, lack of ideological preoccupations in economic matters in Goa�s political class made public policies more pragmatic and prepared Goa for the transition to the market economy. Also, it made Goa relatively more efficient because there was less �rent� available for the political class compared to most other states. Economic pragmatism was, in a way, a gift of democracy coming late to Goa!
I
ndian democracy is not complete without its �federal� structure. Goa is an excellent example. Goa, even as a Union Territory between 1961 and 1987, could drastically change the structure of plan investments to make a great success of development. It is a tribute to Indian federalism even if many other states have not taken full advantage of the system.Part V of the Constitution defines the powers of the Union and Part VI of the states and the Seventh Schedule lays down the Union, the state and the Concurrent List.
A
lthough Goa became a state only in 1987, unlike many of the other smaller states like Nagaland and Mizoram, it does not have the restrictive provisions of Article 371 of the Constitution regarding ownership of land and other special provisions. Even though this had earlier caused some concern about the possible loss of identity of Goa, it can, in hindsight, well be argued that Goa was the actual beneficiary of both the federal structure and of not being covered by restrictions, especially of ownership of property under Article 371. Goa integrated fast both with the national economy and the global economy. In that sense, Goa �globalized� before any state of the Union did.The Indian federal system has made it possible for Goa to adapt and adjust some of the national policies to suit its own needs. Goa has been unwilling to have polluting industries after an unpleasant encounter with Zuari Agro-chemical project. On the other hand, Goa has almost gone on a rampage with the hotel and tourism industry. Even if the Government of Goa and the Goa Assembly can be accused of not thinking through its long-term development strategy, Goa cannot blame the Union government in the essentials of financial and economic freedom. In fact, Delhi can very clearly say to Goa: blame yourself and take credit as well!
The federal structure offers Goa in the 21st century enormous opportunities in the new hi-tech areas. Goa has so much to offer to attract global investments. But that is where the Goan leadership is way below par. No political party or institution is willing to think in terms of �discontinuity�. Past systems, antiquated procedures and rules still dominate the Goan political and bureaucratic minds. Basically, Goa is also affected by the �no change� syndrome. This will not work. And as elsewhere, Goans will go where they want to and do what they want to within the framework of the law. Federalism and globalization will offer Goans new vistas and new opportunities as never before.
I
n conclusion, it may be said that democracy and federalism had a profound impact on Goa after 1961. In one historic step, Goa made a leap into the globe and in effect �globalized� itself much before the WTO regime. Lack of freedom had bottled up Goa during Portuguese rule. Those who felt too suffocated migrated, mostly to the erstwhile Bombay state. Freedom and democracy after 1961 led to a rapid emancipation of the Goan mind and the person. Clearly the Hindu majority benefited the most. They felt truly �free�. In Goa, as in the rest of the country, while the institutions of democracy � the legislatures, the executive, or the judiciary � have not done well, democracy has been a great success story. This success of democracy tells you how even Winston Churchill, the British Prime Minister and a great Second World war British leader, was shortsighted, almost small, in his understanding of the strength of Indian civilization and the Indian people. Less said about the Portuguese the better.Goa�s �opening up� to the world after 1961 has made possible for Goans to go abroad, especially to the United States, for higher and advanced technological education. The new Goa is profoundly influenced not by the Kadambas, or the Portuguese in their day-to-day life but by the United States of America with which it had no �colonial� or any other significant relationship. English, or more correctly American English, dominates Goan schools as in many other parts of the country. The registration of children even in the primary schools is increasingly in English, not in the mother tongue or Marathi as was the case in my generation of at least the Hindus.
The limitations of the political and bureaucratic institutions in Goa which hold back every facet of life including education and health, does not stop the Goans. They just bypass the government and go wherever they wish and do what they want to. This applies to education, health or employment.
Democracy has this sublime gift of �freedom� and the Goans have taken every advantage of it. Goans feel free! And that is the bottom line of Goa�s success.
D
emocracy also empowered the traditionally �deprived� sections of Goa. For historical reasons, Goa did not have much of a Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe population. It was less than 2%. Goa�s backward castes � the OBCs � in effect lead the first Bahujan Samaj Party in the form of the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP) which in essence ruled Goa from 1963 to 1980. Interestingly, its great success in making the �backward castes� into �forward castes� led to the political eclipse of the MGP. In that sense Goa is also a model for the rest of India especially Bihar, UP, Jharkhand among others � the areas of social, economic and political �darkness� of the nation.Three cheers for democracy in Goa. One for political freedom, second for economic growth, and third for social change, indeed transformation.
Federalism unquestionably helped. Without the freedom to choose its �path� of social and economic development made entirely possible by the State list, Goa could not have moved as much or as fast as it has. Unitary solutions, even by a leader of the stature of Jawaharlal Nehru, would not have made the differential strategies of socio-economic change possible.
Goa�s institutions of governance under the federal system whether the legislature, the executive, or the judiciary may not have worked very well. Under the 73rd and 74th Amendments of the Constitution under Part IX, giving Goa multi-level democratically elected institutions of governance have yet to make an impact. Yet, the deepening of the �federal� system of governance offers Goa new possibilities of addressing the coming challenges of globalization. That Goa�s political leadership is not aware of these possibilities is another matter.
Goa, like the rest of the country, has indeed not done its homework on the challenges of the �new globalized world� � in essence Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam (the Universe is one family). The Goan political and administrative leadership is both uneducated and ill-equipped. Goa�s political class, like perhaps even in some European countries like Portugal, has no clue about the criticality of the �knowledge� sector for the future of Goa�s polity, economy and society. Hopefully, the Goans will not stop moving into the 21st century as they moved fast forward after the arrival of democracy in 1961.
Even so, India�s democracy and federal system have prepared Goa much better than almost any other state of the country. It is not history, ancient or the Portuguese, which has made Goa and its people what they are today. It is the people of Goa and their civilizational values which have made Goa what it is today.
Footnotes:
1. K.G. Jayne, Vasco da Gama and His Successors 1460-1580, Methuen and Co., London, 1910, p. 1.
2. Ibid., p. vi.
3. H.V. Livermore, A New History of Portugal, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1969, p. 143.
4. Robert Pinkney, Democracy in the Third World, Lynne Rienner Publishers, Boulder, Colorado, 2004, p. 48.
5. Carmo D�Souza, Legal System in Goa, Vol I, New Age Printers, Panaji, 1994, p. 72.
6. Robert Pinkney, op. cit., p. 48.
7. Jawaharlal Nehru, Letters to Chief Ministers, Vol. 5, Oxford University Press, New Delhi, 1989, p. 185.
8. V.S. Apte, Sanskrit English Dictionary, Motilal Banarsidass, Delhi, 1970, p. 219.
9. National Council of Applied Economic Research, Techno-Economic Survey of Goa, Daman and Diu, New Delhi, 1964, p. 17.
10. Government of Goa, Economic Survey 2003-04, Directorate of Planning, Statistics and Evaluation, Panaji, 2004, p. 152.
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