The issue being hotly debated in INC Party circle in
New Delhi and Goa is whether the veteran INC 65 year
old politician Mr Eduardo M Faleiro with a consistent
first class academic career upto LL.M and a SC leal
practitioner, MLA Goa Assembly since 1971 ex MP LS
since 1977 and present MP RS since 1999 be given a
repeat term of the Rajya Sabha come July 2005
OR
should Mr Shantaram L Naik (Dessai)LL.B a native of
Cuncolim ex MP Lok Sabha Panaji Parliamentary
Constituency (North Goa) and ex Goa Pradesh Congress
Committee President be preferred over Mr Faleiro
OR
should Mr John Fernandes a native of Caranzalem ex MP
Rajya Sabha be preferred
OR
why not a non politico-- a Goan centric individual,
an academician, economist,industrialist be
considered for the House of Elders
For the unintiated the Rajya Sabha (upper House of
Parliament similar to the House of Lords )is one of
the two Houses of the Indian Parliament, the other the
being the Lok Sabha (Lower House similar to the House
of Commons) . The Rajya Sabha commenced sittings
since May 1952 The term of office of a member
elected/nominated to Rajya Sabha is SIX years and one
third of such members retire each year. Unlike the LS
the RS is never dissolved.
The perquisites of office viz;
a) Salary Rs 12,000/- per month
b) daily allowance Rs 500/-
c) accomodation
d) 50000 units of electricity
e) 4000 Kilolitres of water per annum
f) telephone facilities in Delhi/state of residence ).
g) advance for purchase of coveyance
h) constituency allowance Rs,10,000 p.m.
i) office expense Rs 14,000 p.m.
j) pension of Rs.3000/- per month until five years and
beyond an additional pension of Rs. 600/- per month
upon death Rs 1500 to spouse or dependent.
k) free rail travel
l) secretarial assistance
m) medical facilities
n) rail air travel facilities
o) rail passes
p) etc
the member is entitled for two crores per annum under
the Members Of Parliament Local Area Development
Scheme
to suggest to the District Collector works to the
tune of Rs.2 Crores per annum to be taken up in
his/her constituency.
But what is generally expected of the both members of
LS (two seats ) and RS (one seat) for Goa is that they
take up issues which relate to subjects in the Union
List the Concurrent List and sometimes issues
affecting the State.
Unfortunately Goa alomgwith Daman and Diu joined the
Union of India only after Liberation on 19/12/1961 and
remained an Union Territory until 30th May 1987 when
Goa became a State.
The result was that Goa suffers immensely for reasons
a) it missed the Five Year Plans until 1962
b) it could not constitute its State Public Service
Commission and hence till today we have Secretaries to
the Government of Goa IAS officers who are essentially
Non Goans belonging to the AGMU cadre and majority do
not possess a Goan centric mindset.
c) despite Goa having the highest teledensity with
over one lac fifty thousand phones Goa remains a
telecom district of Maharashtra Telecom Circle as a
result nearly 98% of the telecom staff whether lines
man JTO SDE etc all are non goans
d) a similar case is with the Department of Posts and
Telecommunications
e) with Colleges being set up in Goa only in the late
sixties and professional colleges much later Goans
could not qualify for Union Public Service Commission
exams and as a result the few Central Government
offices that set up offices in Goa are all manned by
the non Goans
f) recently the Konkan Railway Corporation which is a
Corporation formed by four states Gujarat Maharastra
Goa and Kerala has only managed to benefit non Goans
because the criteria of allotting land or commercial
contracts to land losers is biased as a result non
Goans constitute the majority in the Commercial and
Operations
g) the Mormugao Port Trust the Goa Shipyard Ltd the
NABARD the RBI NIO surprisingly even the Goa
University etc have the top heirarchy belonging to non
Goans.
h) the Archaeological Survey of India officers man the
nearly 16 sites looked after by them and even the
security services contract awarded to non Goans.
i) the list of archaelogical sites have not been
updated or enlisted in the Central Government list as
a result the Church of Anjediv built before the now
demolished Babri Masjid and Taj Mahal finds no
mention and is at the mercy of the Ministry of Defence
(Navy) and declared out of bounds for the religious
faithful.
j) several Central Government institutions like the
Protectorate of Emigrants, Sea Farers Recruitment
Board which have their regional offices set up
throughout the country before 1961 have not covered
Goa as a result most of our youth are unable to either
make use of these institutions for employment or
learning viz Technical education in Fashion Technology
under the Ministry of Textiles does not have its
Institution in Goa
k) Department of Civil Aviation and the Armed Forces
the Customs Central Excise the Directorate of Income
Tax etc.
l) in matters of NRIs or PIO's in the Gulf and other
western countries the demands of NRIs air travel was
merely paid lip sympathy
m) as regards money from Banco Nacional Portugal it
was a slow long drawn battle many did not live to see
their earnings. Following the Kuwait invasion the UN
Compensation trickled slowly and many were indebted
before the money flowed in.
n)there are cases of Indians disappearing in foreign
countries which have remained undetected
o)exploitation of Indian women in Gulf countries
Passport rackets job rackets overseas rackets which
have not been addressed or suffer the same
bureaucratic snails pace or red tape.
The malaise of all this situation which boils down to
the fact that Goans have become subservient to the
dicates of the non Goans in their own soil is a matter
of concern. There is a systametic unwritten code where
such non Goans have been successful in usurping the
vacancies and openings to prefer their kith and kin
and the quid proquo to "assist one another" to protect
their numbers is alarming.
Even major Central Government contracts are awarded
and cornered by "nominees" of these officers viz
telecom department posts.
While all other States in the country have safeguarded
the educational, technical, professional, employment
prospects of people of their domicile Goa has become
the El Dorado of the non Goans. As a matter of fact
Goa as at the time of writing has become not only a
mini India but has atleast one native of a foreign
country settled in Goa.
Our Members of Parliament no doubt have rendered
yeomen service to the country in national and
international affairs: but given the level of literacy
which ranks as the third highest we ought to have
performed much better except that in the last decade
and even today some of the representative do not match
the demands of such offices as being insignificant in
strenght as compared to bigger states, only a well
read goan centric Goan should have been preferred.
This issue was broached with several well meaning
persons by this writer and the general consensus was
that it is unfortunate that while MPs represented
India at the highest level in world fora they did
preety little for Goa. Some of them have raised
issues on the "Floor of the House" as seen from the
Questions raised in the LS and RS archives but have
failed miserably to pursue these issues to its logical
conclusion.
Till this date the MPs from Goa in Parliament do not
have a charter of shortcomings owing to Goa joining
the mainstream in 1961 besides issues listed above
which needs to be vigorously pursued in Parliament.
Therefore the vox populi prefer that we have a
politician or better still a non politico to take up
these issues and create a bargaining power to ensure
that the shortcomings are resolved. There is a
feeling that those that have had more than two terms
should be shown the door.
It is true that the political equation in the Goa
Legislative Assembly favour a candidate of the
ruling INC led coalition it would be in the interests
of Goa and Goans if a consensus emerges and a
potential candidate who could pursue these issues be
given the opportunity.
Recently with LPG viz; Liberalisation Privatisation
and Globalisation being the emerging trend since
1991, industrialists have preferred to park themselves
in the cosy comforts of the power brokers to "see"
things from within. Goa cannot be an exception and if
the consensus emerges for such a choice if the
incumbent could pursue the issues listed there should
be no hesitation on this score.
Given the available material it is reliably learnt
from sources in New Delhi that Mr Shantaram L Naik ex
MP known as the "zero hour" hero would make a good
choice though some feel that a person like Mr Radharao
Gracias a thorough Goan centric ex MLA would be an
ideal choice to represent the State in the Rajya
Sabha. There is also a fear of cross voting which
could capitulate a BJP nominee given that some
disgruntled "young turks" and first timers may play
mischief to give vent to the INC dictates.
GODFREY J I GONSALVES
Borda Margao Goa
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
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