Goa entered into the New Year with much pomp and gaiety but not without a hangover from the old as thousands, nay, lakhs of tourists from across the country as well as locals rang in the New Year with parties, celebration and merriment. But as the sun dawned upon a New Year, the State also woke up to the realisation of the challenges that lie ahead, many of which have been brought forward from the old.
While the New Year is definitely an opportunity to start anew -- an opportunity that must be taken for whatever it is worth -- what has gone behind us and into the past must indeed serve as a guiding light for the year to come.
The last year laid bare the many challenges Goa faces -- the challenge of handling the ever-increasing number of tourists that are descending upon the State, the environmental challenges in the form of rampant hill cutting and field filling that is taking place at an unprecedented pace, even as the government authorities pretend not to notice, the challenge of preserving what’s left of Goa as well as the myriad political challenges in order that the government with a brute majority, does not drown the issues raised by the people.
This New Year needs to be an opportunity for all stakeholders to introspect, analyse their strategies so far and if possible regroup and relaunch themselves with new ideas.
But if the past is any indication, all this is easier said than done. Over the past 12 months, Goa has seen the repeat of the very ugly display of unabashed greed for power in the form of defections, a bulldozing by the government over people’s issues including the Margao western bypass, the protesting Mopa farmers who are losing their land for the airport approach road and the unresolved issues of the taxi operators who showed the ugly face of Goa tourism when they sent a bunch of around 100 American tourists back to their ship simply because they chose the tour bus as a means of transport.
It would help a great deal if the government itself takes the first step in indicating that it is keen on taking an earnest first step in the New Year with a promise to uphold the law, protect the environment as well as act in the interest of Goa. Over the past few months, we have seen that the current dispensation is only too eager to follow the dictates of their bosses in Delhi, rather than directly acting in the interest of the State or in the interest of the people of Goa. The remote-controlled status takes us back by nearly 35 years when Goa was a Union Territory and was at the command of the Centre.
This biggest challenge is for the government to stand up for Goa and Goans. This New Year would be the biggest gift our political dispensation can give us to the State.
