GOAN MUTATIONS-3 By Valmiki Faleiro Goan mutations are one classic example. Of the result of laws mule-headedly aped from Maharashtra in the early post-Liberation years. And implemented half-baked or selectively. Like the Land to the Tiller Act, where ‘big bhatkars’ like the Ranes of Sattari quietly dispossessed their tillers even as the law was being enforced by one of their own: Pratapsing Rane, then a MGP Revenue Minister. Maharashtra’s land laws were meant for Maharashtra. Goa’s land-holding patterns differed from those in most of India. Worse, even as such laws were fundamentally amended in Maharashtra, little changed from the archaic in Goa. Nothing prevented the Congress (1980-2000) and BJP-led (2000-04) governments from amending flawed statutes, to make them better suited to local conditions. But, given their extra-curricular distractions, it’d be grossly unfair of Goans to expect their governments to govern in the realm of the curricular. In the rest of India, lands belonged to the State. Lands turned private when, under laws like the Land Revenue Code (LRC), patches were granted to private parties for revenue. In Goa, lands were held collectively in the name of the ‘Gram Purush’ (village deity.) Private – but not individual – ownership. This was central to the ‘ganvkari’ (‘comunidade’ in the Portuguese era), a ‘Village Republic’ system that existed much before the Indo-Aryans of North India conquered and adopted them as their own. The ‘ganvkari’ system was refined by latter day Sumerians (temple priests), who landed in sailboats – of all places, at Varca in Salcete! Conventions of ‘ganvkaris,’ codified by the Portuguese, allowed leases (‘aforamentos’) which, on lump sum payment of 20 years’ lease fees, turned community lands freehold. Goan land holding thus took a unique form. Yet, unsuited laws from elsewhere – mainly from Maharashtra – were imported into Goa. Like the LRC, which regulates matters of survey, partitions and mutations. Elsewhere, the LRC applies only to State-granted lands. In Goa, it has been enforced for all lands: temple, church, community, and private. The mess of Goan mutations stems from this ill-fitting LRC. Even as its provisions are followed more in breach, the ‘aam aadmi’ in India’s “No.1 State” is subjected to harassment and extortion. Let’s look a bit more at how this happens. We were on service of mutation notices. One way to defraud a Goan Catholic landowner – absentee or resident – for example, is to serve a mutation notice via a Marathi daily that Catholics generally are unable to read. Fraudsters on the prowl devised other methods. Befriend the beat postman. If he agrees to the bribe, he will return a notice to the landowner back to the Mamlatdar with the remark, “Refused” or “Intimated” – which, in law, is good service. Oblivious, the legitimate owner is ‘dispossessed’ of his land in official revenue records. Earlier, village Talathis carried out mutations under supervision of the Circle Inspector and Mamlatdar. Malpractices and corruption were galore. Let me cite a quaint case. There was this Talathi in Curtorim constituency when Francisco Sardinha was its longtime MLA. Without any legal basis, the Talathi posted a mutation, ‘dispossessing’ the rightful holder, a woman. The woman learnt about this in good time. Accosting the Talathi and Mamlatdar didn’t work. She met Minister Sardinha. He summoned the Talathi and, verifying the fraud, told him to rectify the record or face dismissal from service. The Talathi returned to his office and, same day, without any document or ado, promptly reversed the mutation! Here is a case related by another Curtorim friend – at the other end of the spectrum. Despite a Court decree in ‘Inventario’ proceedings, the mutation of a property allotted to him wasn’t getting done. My smooth-talking Saraswat friend met the Mamlatdar. “This cannot be done,” said the latter. “Why?” asked my friend. “Because the owner is dead,” was the daft response. “I know he is dead,” said my friend, “that’s why I filed the Inventario!” Nine months on, the mutation is yet to be delivered. Not to suggest that ALL talathis, postmen and Mamlatdars are corrupt – there still are, mercifully, a few with some ‘Goemkarponn’ left in them. But only a few. So rampant was malpractice at the village Talathi’s level that special posts of “Talathi for Mutation” were created at each Taluka office. Revenue records were computerized. Did things improve for the ‘aam aadmi’? Ha, now it’s more like jets being piloted by bullock-cart drivers. (To continue.) PS: Strange twists can occur when a language is twirled around an alien script. Sample this catch line in a newspaper ad on Oct 29 & 30: “Bum fodo, inaam jeeto.” In Romi Konknni, it would sound some strange “break the bum, your prize is still alive.” There are more colourful – but unprintable – interpretations. The line, of course, was in Romi Hindi! (ENDS) The Valmiki Faleiro weekly column at: http://www.goanet.org/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=330 ============================================================================== The above article appeared in the November 9, 2008 edition of the Herald, Goa
