Just decades ago, apart from the game of football, one other thing that united Goans together are the traditional feasts celebrated in different villages. Be it Hindu or Christian festivals, Goans have always been together. Rejoicing and sharing together for the day. The times have changed with the period of time since then. The football grounds we played on were not big stadiums but paddy fields, in open properties. Now some paddy fields have been turned into concrete jungles and there are hardly open places left in the villages where used to be open football grounds for the folks from the village “waddo”. Now people are glued to their television sets. Our children hardly find time, school in the morning, homework and tuitions in the evening.Not many had a watch on their wrists, sunset was the natural time to be home for the evening prayer. Today’s Goa is a changed place. At sunset, Goa awakes to music of the night long parties. Life has taken a different shape and along with it, it has diluted our culture. Our honesty is taken over by dishonest politicians and looters who are ruining Goa. The culture of Casinos, rave parties, discos, night bazaars and of all the dirty drugs has taken over. All this has corrupted our Goan culture. Corruption has it’s head high as the order of the day. It is protected by our politicians who have their fingers in every corrupt pie in Goa. It has given rise to crime and in turn, crime has fattened the pockets of the Goa Police. The crime detection and conviction rate is on the lowest ebb.
It has been generally accepted that corruption is evil and responsible for the Goa’s gross underdevelopment. Without corruption, all the evil would have not shown it’s ugly head in Goa. With the high amount of human and material resources abound, our youths are not given the right share of the employment in the governmental organisations. They need to shell out a huge amount of money to the politicians and ministers alike. That is the reason why some of our boys, educated boys tend to look towards the Cruise Liners or to Middle East; they cannot afford to pay in lakhs or in millions. This, they will not be able to recover in a life time of service if not indulged in corruption. Therefore, for them, a hard days toil abroad is more dignified than looting poor people to recover the money paid to the ministers or politicians who act as job agents. With mining, fishing and agriculture, Goa was supposed to be counted among the rich states of India. Despite the deep conviction about the negative effects of corruption on Goa, cases of graft have continued to be on the sharp rise. The situation is so bad that corruption has almost turned out to be a part of life.
There is no doubt about the strong desire of every Goan to change the present scenario. But how? When the law makers are themselves are so corrupt and breaks all norms of decency, how can a common man survive amongst the big political wolves? Somehow, this desire has failed to curb the rise in cases of crime and corruption due to several factors. The inability of successive administrations to cure Goa of crime and corruption can therefore be rightly attributed to the shallow and narrow nature of the elected representatives.
Presently, the war against crime and corruption is mainly anchored on the principles of investigation, arrest, and prosecution of suspected offenders. This can be likened to mowing a lawn. Sooner or later, the grass will grow again. To effectively fight crime and corruption, its roots must have to be uprooted. The rise in cases on a daily basis is linked to a number of fundamental factors. They include wrong social orientation, poor leadership culture, unemployment, migrant inflation and the lack of political will. Goa is like an engine-less boat in the ocean. It would need a team dedicated and experienced crew to sail it to shore. Poor leadership culture has contributed to the collapse of key public infrastructure and utilities. Goa has now become a popular reference point for Sex and Drugs.
Goa’s weak socio-economic framework has either reduced or eliminated a number of platforms that would have helped to expand the economy. The rich soil of Goa is robbed and shipped with no accountability by the mining magnets. The present administration has voluntarily ignored several opportunities to create jobs and legitimate wealth for the Goans. Our youths are therefore forced to embrace sharp practices to make ends meet. Unlike in the pre-colonial era when all forms of corruption were seriously frowned at, people now openly celebrate with known corrupt politicians by throwing lavish parties and praising the corrupt. While very many do so because of poverty, others do it in order to secure political power. Poverty has virtually turned Goans into praise singers. We have found out that praise singing is one sure way through which they could benefit from the dividends of political patrons, no matter what profile they have. The few money-bags now find it very convenient to manipulate the electoral system and dictate who should vote whom. Unfortunately, the contemporary Goan society no longer honour citizens based on their industry, intellect, or integrity. Men are now recognised based on their movable and immovable assets. It is the electorates that hold the key to credible elections. Money power changes the scenario in today’s elections in Goa, showers of Gandhi’s overnight, plates of biryanis and a new trend: cycles to the migrants has changed the scenario.
As long as crime and corruption is still widespread in Goa, the much talked about changing the Challis Chors will make no much difference. Let thoughts for a change prevail, change the present set of seasoned politicians. It is a known fact that many a politicians do not pay taxes and thereby robbing government of huge revenues. It would experience a big boost if politicians are compelled by legislations to live within their means and not bankrupt the Goan exchequer.
Goa government must however do well to improve on the delivery of public infrastructure and utilities. Except some practical actions are taken to encourage sound moral values in society, the war against crime and corruption will suffer severe blows. This is where the issue of political will comes to play.
Presently, the war against crime and corruption is mainly anchored on the principles of investigation, arrest, and prosecution of suspected offenders. This can be likened to mowing a lawn. Sooner or later, the grass will grow again. To effectively fight crime and corruption, its roots must have to be uprooted. The rise in cases on a daily basis is linked to a number of fundamental factors. They include wrong social orientation, poor leadership culture, unemployment, migrant inflation and the lack of political will. Goa is like an engine-less boat in the ocean. It would need a team dedicated and experienced crew to sail it to shore. Poor leadership culture has contributed to the collapse of key public infrastructure and utilities. Goa has now become a popular reference point for Sex and Drugs.
Goa’s weak socio-economic framework has either reduced or eliminated a number of platforms that would have helped to expand the economy. The rich soil of Goa is robbed and shipped with no accountability by the mining magnets. The present administration has voluntarily ignored several opportunities to create jobs and legitimate wealth for the Goans. Our youths are therefore forced to embrace sharp practices to make ends meet. Unlike in the pre-colonial era when all forms of corruption were seriously frowned at, people now openly celebrate with known corrupt politicians by throwing lavish parties and praising the corrupt. While very many do so because of poverty, others do it in order to secure political power. Poverty has virtually turned Goans into praise singers. We have found out that praise singing is one sure way through which they could benefit from the dividends of political patrons, no matter what profile they have. The few money-bags now find it very convenient to manipulate the electoral system and dictate who should vote whom. Unfortunately, the contemporary Goan society no longer honour citizens based on their industry, intellect, or integrity. Men are now recognised based on their movable and immovable assets. It is the electorates that hold the key to credible elections. Money power changes the scenario in today’s elections in Goa, showers of Gandhi’s overnight, plates of biryanis and a new trend: cycles to the migrants has changed the scenario.
As long as crime and corruption is still widespread in Goa, the much talked about changing the Challis Chors will make no much difference. Let thoughts for a change prevail, change the present set of seasoned politicians. It is a known fact that many a politicians do not pay taxes and thereby robbing government of huge revenues. It would experience a big boost if politicians are compelled by legislations to live within their means and not bankrupt the Goan exchequer.
Goa government must however do well to improve on the delivery of public infrastructure and utilities. Except some practical actions are taken to encourage sound moral values in society, the war against crime and corruption will suffer severe blows. This is where the issue of political will comes to play.
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