In the past week, there has been a significant debate in Goa regarding the comparison between the current Chief Minister, Pramod Sawant, and Goa’s first Chief Minister, Dayanand Bandodkar. While my major grievance with the late Bandodkar was his push for the merger of Goa, which could have potentially led to the loss of Goa’s unique identity, I have also come to appreciate his contributions. These include uplifting the lower sections of society, providing free and widespread education, and maintaining corruption-free governance.
I believe that if he were alive today, he would have spoken out and taken action against the rapid conversion, destruction, and sale of Goa’s valuable land, environment, hills, water bodies, and trees. Such actions, which cater to specific lobbies and crony capitalists, including real estate developers and land sharks, would not align with his vision.
Therefore, the current government under Dr Pramod Sawant cannot be compared to the government of the late Dayanand Bandodkar. Corruption and scams under the present administration have reached unprecedented levels in Goa—something that would have been unthinkable during Bandodkar’s era.
