What the first session of Goa's assembly did

Ben Antao

(From Navhind Times, January 18, 1964)

Preponderance and petulance over the language issue robbed the first session of the Goa, Daman and Diu Legislative Assembly, which ended in the capital city last Wednesday (January 15), of much of its interest and importance.

The discussion on the Lt. Governor's address did not touch any height of brilliance, though it served to highlight the familiar woes of the people, the shortcomings of the administration, military and civil, the rising cost of living, the growing unemployment and, of course, an ample sprinkling of the members’ idiosyncrasies.

Language, land reforms, lottery, panchayats, education, health, veterinary services, unemployment, "Communidade" lands, Indian laws, small and medium scale industries, tourism,
grant-in-aid code, roads, electric power, housing, rehabilitation of political sufferers, and port development were the topics that seemed to agitate the members’ minds.

While the house was fairly divided on the emphasis it laid on these subjects, the overall picture, as emerged from the discussion, showed the government in the dock.

Obviously, language will continue to be the bone of contention in the future sittings of the assembly, owing to the peculiar situation that confronts the house.

While the treasury benches understandably used Marathi more, it seems, to justify their demand for the merger of Goa with Maharashtra than from necessity, the opposition, most of whose members cannot understand Marathi, was naturally hard pressed to follow the proceedings, which is why its leader, Dr. Jack de Sequeira, indicated to the Speaker the helplessness of the opposition on the first day of the discussion on the Lt. Governor's address to do anything but walk out. But the situation is not without a solution.

The one point that has come home from the conclusion of the first session of the Goa Legislative Assembly is that all members, except those from Daman and Diu, can understand and speak Konkani.

Therefore, in the absence of familiarity and facility with either English or Hindi languages that have been stipulated for the conduct of proceedings in the house under clause 34 of the Union Territories Act, Konkani should be preferred to any other language, in fairness to and interest of the house.

The Chief Minister made a fine gesture when he volunteered to speak in Konkani to ease the intransigence and avoid breakdown in the discussion.

Since Mr. Bandodkar has told us more than once that his party aims at winning the opposition over, I should think the best way to go about it is via Konkani. It is also hoped that members of the ruling party will not speak in Marathi and impress on the opposition that it is Konkani! This is not only mischievous but puerile, to say the least.

The address of the Lt. Governor, running into 30 well-phrased paragraphs, impresses though it does not inspire. Mr. Mulk Raj Sachdev's peroration rose to poetic heights when he said: "The torch of freedom has been lit. You are the first torch bearers of the country that has come to this territory, after four and a half centuries of colonial domination. Let the torch always remain alight and ever burn brighter and brighter."

Undoubtedly, there is a surfeit of poetry all around Goa, if only one will look for it. The swaying palms, the surf-dappled beaches, the placid waters of Mandovi and Zuari, and the wooded hills are all a poet's delight. But man does not live by poetry alone. He lives by bread, in spite of what the Bible tells you.

In this, the address leaves much to be desired. Rarely does it seem to come to grips with reality. Nowhere does it say expressly that the average Goan is better off today that he was two years ago.

It is true that the government has undertaken manifold development activities, established multi-purpose co-operative societies, opened more schools to fight illiteracy, reconstructed the major bridges to facilitate transport, supplied seeds and fertilizers to farmers and brought down the price of paddy, taken measures to check the shooting prices of essential commodities, established six cottage hospitals in rural areas with a view to improving people's health, signed a three-year truce with port and dock labour.

All this and more the government has undertaken since liberation, but with what results?

The prices of necessities are spiraling daily and unemployment grows unabated. Roads in rural areas are in a hopeless condition and hospitalisation facilities remain inadequate. The cost of living has shot up by leaps and bounds, despite the fact that wages are low and meagre. Surely, there is a catch somewhere in the administrative machinery.

The Lt. Governor said: "No amount of development is worth anything unless the man in the street feels that the administration is being run in the interest and for the benefit of the people at large."

Great words, these! Very reassuring.

But the "man in the street" groans and grunts and curses the liberation for it. Why blame him? Before even if he suffered, which from all reports he did not, there was the colonial regime to heap abuses on.

What is the use of political freedom without economic betterment?

No wonder, therefore, the Lt. Governor's address came in for scathing criticism in the legislative assembly.

It was not only the opposition which pierced through the light, flimsy blanket the government covered itself with and made perceptible dents on the government administrative armour of shortcomings, but also there were a few gentlemen on the treasury benches who shattered the illusory picture of the state of government that the Lt. Governor painted.

It passes one's understanding how the government proposes to vitalise the panchayats by bringing the "Communidades" under their sphere. The record of the panchayats as given by the Lt. Governor in his address indicates that they are not functioning as efficiently as is possible.

Mr. Tony Fernandes, minister for law, labour, agriculture, mining and industries, stated that by bringing the "Communidades" under the administration of the village panchayats the government hopes to give full scope and statement to the village self-government bodies.

One wonders how the "Communidades" are calculated to give this "scope and statement" to the panchayats if hitherto they have been unable to function effectively. If at all, this step is more than likely to corrupt the village bodies. It is backdoor nationalisation, so to speak.

The ministers, including the chief minister, while replying to the discussion on the Lt. Governor's address, appeared to be at pains to impress upon the house and justify to some extent the action taken by the union government in putting a ban on the Goa lottery. The reason trotted out was to save the poor people from the evil of gambling, without so much as giving a favourable consideration to the object of the lottery, which was the upkeep and maintenance of the hospitals at Ribandar, Margao and Mapusa.

You can trust the government to save the people from suffering, misery and misfortune, but not help the people out of them.

It is strange that although the government constituted a rehabilitation board more than a year ago for the relief and redress of political sufferers, no tangible help has since been advanced to any but for whom, let us confess, we might yet not have been free.

Glorious promises couched in soul-stirring language are not enough.

The political sufferer must be made to feel that his suffering has not been in vain, which it has certainly not been, by rehabilitating him properly.

Today, the political sufferer is a frustrated, disillusioned person. The Chief Minister, Mr. Dayanand Bandodkar, evoked patriotic feelings in the hearts of many when he paid homage to the martyrs at the Aguada jail soon after taking the oath of office.

Let his ministry give top priority to the rehabilitation of political sufferers or else, as a member of his party said in the house, "a serious revolution" will brew up.

There appears to be a strong case for giving a better deal to Diu and Daman. It is amazing, as Mr. Jivani (Ind-Diu) said, that there is such a shortage of water supply, inadequate medical facilities and not even a maternity home there.

The redeeming feature of the session was the tactful and impartial manner in which the Speaker, Mr. Pandurang Shirodkar, conducted the proceedings. At no stage did the speaker appear to take sides, and it speaks volumes for his adroitness and tactfulness that he salvaged the house from the precipice of crisis caused following the opposition threat of a walkout. Mr. Shirodkar has all the makings of a competent Speaker.


(Author’s note: I’d like to acknowledge with sincere thanks the help of Cecil Pinto and Lynn Pereira of Panjim for transcribing the above article from the Navhind Times and emailing it to me in Toronto. In view of the coming elections in Goa, I am forwarding it to The Goan Forum with the hope that today’s readers might find it interesting.)
 

Ben Antao
May 10, 2002