March 3, 2012: The dayof counting of votes after the Goa Legislative Assembly elections. FrankyMonteiro and Charles Bonaficio, standing outside the counting centre in Margao,noticed an antsy Alexio Sequeira pacing the floor. 2 PM: With a scowl at theduo an agitated Sequeira exited.
2.30 PM: Two policevans pulled up. Monteiro and Bonaficio were bundled into the van and wronglybooked under Section 144 of the Indian Penal Code “ unlawful assembly. Goes toshow how a politician felt intimidated by the aam aadmi crusaders.
September 3, 2012: LoutulimSarpanch Maria Monteiro alongwith fellow Panchs swoops onto a shipyardillegally filling landfilling to increase its shipyard’s expanse. A quickinspection report with people in scores lending their voice and the shipyardlooking shaky and all set to yield. Maria carries forward the fight of herhusband that she once opposed. The River Zuari has two Monteiros lending theirsupport against illegal shiyards.
Rewind: “My crusade began in 2007 with the proposed 20-PointProgramme in my neighbourhood,” said Monteiro. The 20-Point Programme wouldprovide economically backward families with 100 sq.m plots of land each. “Thebeneficiaries would sell the land to migrant labourers like in Chimbel, Nagoaand Seraulim. Since the MLA refused to hear me out, I decided to look into thematter.”
“Look into the matter” is an understatement that Monteirospecialises in. Very quiet, he lives in one of the last unadulterated spaces inthe village of Loutolim. Many of Monteiro’s battles are about protecting spacesaround his village, which incidentally will see maximum industrialisation ifthe Regional Plan 2021 goes through.
While inspecting files at Goa Industrial DevelopmentCorporation (GIDC), Monteiro discovered that 1 lakh sq.m of industrial land wasunlawfully allocated for the 20-Point Programme. “Also, communidade land of 22lakh sq.m was to be allocated for Special Economic Zones (SEZs) and sold to theRahejas, Paradigm and Peninsula. Data was falsified to show a land rate of Rs750 per sq.m, whereas the covert rate was Rs 4000 per sq.m.,” said Monteiro. Hemanaged to get a stay on the allotment from the High Court.
Villagers of Rassaim approached Monteiro in regard to theshipyards that had taken to ship building from ship maintenance. The noise thatresulted, and the migrant workers employed by the shipyards, were a menace. “Itook up the cause in the High Court in the name of the villagers, though I wasnot affected.”
Monteiro’s crusade has been pro bono. When asked about thepossible retaliation by big names, he said, “It is human to get scared.However, I cannot see my village being defiled and do nothing about it.”
