Anything goes in Goa

Diju’s Ordinance. Even Goa ain’t seen anything like this before.

Aam aadmi was a word coined by this very government and Congress party to make a point, which after La Affaire Cidade means bullshit to you and me, not that it meant anything before, you know that. ‘Diju’s Ordinance’ the phrase to describe the CMs act of warlordism will go down well soon with your pint like ‘Monster Rat and 40 chores’ did and is probably the last nail in the collective coffin meant for the aam aadmi, for Goa is now surely a failed state. Bihar was once till the sensible Biharis decided to kick out warlord Laloo Prasad Yadav. Warlord, did I say? Like the warlords in Somali, what other word can I use to describe the actions of the men who have scripted what must easily rank as Goa’s most anti-people act in history. So if you have beach side properties, build on them furiously. You never know when it could be acquired by the Congress. After all there are precedents both by the Congress and the MGP. For instance, the MGP acquired a priceless bit of vantage land at Bogmolo decades ago for a five-star hotel, while the Congress did it for the Taj hotels at Sinquerim and again for the Goa Mariott at Mira Mar. And if you recall, the Konkan rail route was diverted out of the iron ore mining areas, dragged from the mainland on to an island (Divar), back to the same mainland. Perhaps for the first time ever in India, because the thumb rule is, you save costs (which did not happen because two bridges had to be built into and out of Divar) and you avoid fragile islands.

No Ordinance for them

If it happens to be the real aam aadmi, the Congress apparently cares two hoots. Ask these 15 Goans whose shacks were demolished in one single season last year. 1. Santiago Fernandes, Maddo Vaddo, Calangute. 2. Alex D’Souza, Maddo Vaddo, Calangute. 3. Cruz Fernandes, Maddo Vaddo, Calangute. 4. Anni fernandes, Maddo Vaddo, Calangute. 5. Maggie D’Souza, Umta Vaddo, Calangute. 6. Bento Gonsalves, Umta Vaddo, Calangute. 7. Francis Correia, Umta Vaddo, Calangute. 8. Sunil Govekar, Nerul. 9 Govind Simepurushkar, Nerul. 10. Ritesh M. Kalangutkar, Nerul. 11. Domingos Pereira, Nerul. 12. Gopal K. Kandolkar, Nerul. 13. Concessao M. Rodrigues, Nerul. 14. Concessao Mendes, Nerul. 15. Francisco C. Fernandes, Saunta Vaddo, Calangute.

These hapless shack owners are likely to tell you that the Congress is only out to harm the aam aadmi because the license fees they paid for their respective shacks was never reimbursed by the Department of Tourism after it declared the shacks were illegal when their respective owners changed locations from the originally allotted sites. Big deal, after all what harm was done or could ever have been done by the shack owners who temporarily occupied tiny portions of land, as compared to the vast lands acquired by governments virtually free for permanent five-star hotels. This government owns the bulldozers after all, is terminally anti-aam aadmi, and is intrepid when it comes to acquiring land for the rich.

Five-star versus shack owner

Each year after a great deal of wheeling and dealing, tears often, the government allots 196 shacks in north Goa mainly along the beaches of Keri, Arambol, Ozrant, Mandrem, Morjim, Anjuna, Vagator, and in bigger stretches at Calangute and Candolim. In the south of Goa, 106 shacks are allotted in the beaches of Velsao, Arrossim, Utorda, Majorda, Betalbatim, Colva, Sernabatim (Colva), Benaulim, Velludo (Benaulim) Fatrade (Varca), Varca, Zalor, Cavelossim and Palolem. The figure marginally increased in the north from 166 in 2006-07 to 168 in 2007-08, to 196 in 2008-09. There has hardly been a season when there has not been any rancour directly connected to the system of allotment, allegedly by lottery picking. In 2006-07 there were 569 applicants, in 2007-08 there were 562, and in 2008-09 there were 572. Do the math and you know how many were turned back disappointed. The Department of Tourism denies any wrong doing, but veteran shack owners swear some shacks at least are allotted on a “reference basis” or outside the lottery system. The department denies that. But everyone is acquainted with the might of the five-star hotel industry which claims the shacks eat into their profits running into hundreds of crores, all of it siphoned out of Goa, except in the case of good old Cidade de Goa. Really, this was never meant to be a David versus Goliath thing, but it must be said that in government there are mostly believers of Five-star power and in the entertainment thereof, and therefore they stay Believers.

So shall it reap the fruits

And like the rich who reap the fruits, literally and metaphorically, of the land, so does government. In 2006-07 the government earned a revenue of Rs 68,50,00 from its inflated shack licence fee, in 2007-08 it earned Rs 55,50,00 and in 2008-09 it earned a massive Rs 77,20,00. And you can bet despite what Digambar Kamat said about the licence fees for the onshore-offshore Casinos being used for social causes, this ain’t never gonna happen. Amen.