Robberies continue to haunt Goans round the year. This time it was two armed assailants, both migrants, that barged into a Guirdolim house and mercilessly beat a senior citizen couple before forcing them to part with their wedding bands and other valuables worth Rs 8 lakh at knife-point.
The incident has once again sent shivers down the spines of other senior citizens and families that continue to remain exposed in an insecure environment such as this. A moment fraught with agony and stress where life hangs on a thin thread of hope and citizens left defenseless holding on to their prayer beads and awaiting divine intervention.
But who is responsible for the state the people are in? Is it legislators, the local bodies, the law enforcers or is it the people of Goa. In fact it’s a collective failure. The influx of migrant population has been beyond control and our law enforcement has failed to take a grip over the situation. Politicians have been screaming their lungs out over the issue at various forums, but nothing concrete is seen on the ground in terms of legislation, primarily because of vote-bank politics. Mind you, migrants can now turn political equations too. Local bodies have washed their hands off this issue and are mere spectators to the demographic changes in their area while focusing only on development of its land. Panchayats and municipal bodies should be aware of the environment and the people within their respective boundaries. They need to be made accountable and should ideally work in tandem with the police.
All said and done, most importantly, citizens should own up responsibility. People who let out premises without registering the occupants need to take the blame. Letting out small units has been a lucrative business for many Goans and most of them refrain from going through the tenant verification process for fear of exposing the magnitude of their holdings and the moolah they rake in. Even in the Guirdolim case, the owners of the premises had not registered the tenants. The business of letting out premises has to be taken very seriously and all owners should face severe penal action for not registering occupants.
To make it fool-proof, police need to step up and familiarize themselves with the area under their jurisdiction. This entire exercise will be half-done if police teams fail to physically verify the holdings and the occupants. Police intelligence gathering should be tighter and police must arm themselves with all possible information about the people from the area, a routine which has to be followed by the local bodies too.
In an age where Aadhaar card authentication is done at every phase, from passport formalities to bank account opening, why is it not used to verify the migrants in rented premises?
