[Goanet] Saving Goa and migrants

[Samir Kelekar]

Rajan raises some very valid issues in his
post about migrants; however, I 
dont think we can just pinpoint to outsiders/migrants
as the cause of the problem.

The problem is much deeper. Richer Non-Goans are
buying land/flats because Goans are selling their
lands.
Goans are selling their land partly because they
need the money. And they need the money because they
have been susegaad all their lives and finding it
tough to make ends meet.

Same case with the poorer migrants. They come to Goa
because there is work for them --- especially in
the booming construction industry. Others come to
become fruit vendors because they find Goans are
not competitive enough and they can capture the
market.

Perhaps we should fight for a blanket ban on all
construction activity in Goa.
This can solve a lot of the problem. Richer migrants
wont be able to buy flats, and so they wont migrate
to Goa. A lot of the poorer migrants wont come because
there won't be work for them.

regards,
Samir



  

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[Goanet] Saving Goa and migrants

[Mario Goveia]

Date: Tue, 6 May 2008 05:23:42 -0700 (PDT)
From: Samir Kelekar [EMAIL PROTECTED]

Same case with the poorer migrants. They come to Goa
because there is work for them --- especially in
the booming construction industry. Others come to
become fruit vendors because they find Goans are
not competitive enough and they can capture the
market.

Perhaps we should fight for a blanket ban on all
construction activity in Goa.  This can solve a lot of
the problem. Richer migrants wont be able to buy
flats, and so they wont migrate to Goa. A lot of the
poorer migrants wont come because there won't be work
for them.

Mario adds:

Samir,

Before your tongue got stuck in your cheek you were
doing pretty good in your pithy analyses of the Goan
dilemma.

Of course the problem is not the migrants.  As with
migrants the world over, and I am one, migrants are
always held to a different standard, and should, in my
opinion, as part of paying their dues, but tend to
become convenient pawns when things seem to be going
awry.

Say what you will, Goa today would be static without
migrants.  The largest economy in the world, the USA,
would be static without migrants which is why legal
migrants are celebrated here and welcomed with open
arms in emotional citizenship ceremonies.

The most ironic example of Goa's dilemma is our good
friend, Floriano, enterprising, emotional, highly
motivated, honest to a fault, who would desperately
like to protect Goa for Goans, but would be unable to
conduct his construction business successfully without
migrants.

Such is the price of freedom and progress in a
thriving modern post-socialist democracy.