|
GOA CONSULTATION |
(23rd Oct.2003, 10.30)
A Critical Review And Moving Forward
The morning session began with a song, followed by introductory remarks by Shri Ulhas Arolkar and welcome speech by Shri Soter D’Souza. Shri Greg D’Costa continued as a moderator even on this second day with his efficient communication skills.
Then, there was keynote address by Shri K. K. Mani on following crucial
topic:
PEACEFUL
SOCIETY: Presentation of 20 years
(National
& Goan Context)
(Being this an emotionally charged speech explaining the journey of an
individual and an organisation based on 20 years of sweet and sad experiences
with lot of ups and downs, every effort is taken by reporter to reproduce
speech word by word. This unabridged speech may sound some times repetitive,
but these rich experiences will certainly prove as guiding torch particularly
to such people who wish to take up social service / field as career.)
“I remember the day one of my second arrival in Goa when I was
disqualified by some of the key social figures in Goa. First time it happened
in my life that I can not serve in state like Goa because I was not born in
Goa. This humiliation was not from the common Goans but from those stalwarts
who carry the torch of culture and civilisation of Goa. Today, I thank them for
inspiring me and proving my sincerity and integrity to become a Goan being an
Indian. I never had problem with any common Goan. And, I have deep regard for
them. When we shifted to Madkai in september1990, our one colleague Mr. Honu
Gawade will remember that all the coconut trees in the campus were protected
with barbed wire and within a year we removed all the barbed wires by winning
the faith and trust of Madkai people. The 20 years of PS’s journey is a journey
of winning the faith and winning the hearts of the people of Goa to make better
Goa. The Goa may be number one in terms of statistics but we should also make
it number one in terms of human equality. Well, PS was not the first
initiative. In fact, it was third birth of our initiative after two very
painful miscarriages. A much known Goan family hijacked the first initiative.
He wanted that initiative for the growth of his family. Another attempt was
also hijacked. This was all learning for us. We learnt from this how to start
collective process. The beginning was very challenging one and that is why
today we have some sense of fulfilment that, yes, we have completed 20 years of
journey. But, we do not have total sense of fulfilment because we feel that the
issues which were there alive in the year 1980 still exists and some of the
issues have become severe today which may determine the whole future of
Goa. And, therefore, this gathering is
or has not been organised to give us honour but, is organised to guide us
further, guide us how to go in more meaningful way for next 20 years. In the
last meeting, I was suggesting our colleagues that let us have our own forum of
reporting about ourselves, i.e. what are doing. Let us have our own forum to
criticise about what we are not doing. Let us start to develop a culture of
interaction to understand how well we can fulfil the expectations of people as
a really dynamic PS. That meeting inspired us to organise this event and
present the report of what we have done and more importantly, seek your
critical guidance about what we have not done and what we could have done.
Therefore our humble request is that please abstain from making purely
appreciating remarks. But please help us; guide us with your very critical
comments on what we have done for last 20 years, in particular what mistakes we
have done for last 20 years so that we can start a new inning for next 20 years
in a meaningful way, and this meaningfulness shall be for Goa as well as for
the whole country. As I said that the beginning was very challenging one, the
first conflict was about Goan and non-Goan. The second conflict was about what
to do and what not to do. There was general belief among all the colleagues
with whom we formed this organisation that there is no poverty in Goa, there is
no inequality in Goa, there is no social injustice in Goa, there is no social
crisis in Goa, only problem we have is lack of street light, lack of tap water,
lack of good roads. And these statements were made by none the less than the
visionary people of Goa. And, I was wondering that how these people were called
the visionary people of Goa. But, I was unable to challenge these people
because I had no roots with the people. Then, we decided to go to the people.
We conducted house-to-house survey to get real picture about a person, a family
and a vaddo. We found 110 types of information about a person. This was totally
different from what the seniors were saying. We found that the life of women
and weaker section was totally different, much alike the life found in other
states and not the way the seniors popularly thought of. We found that their
life was ruined by the social system in the name of religion. There was
malnutrition among them. They had no proper houses to live. Their bread and
butter were not assured for all thirty days. These were the findings. But, the question was how to start since; I
was new in the locality. Our seniors were hungry to start some populist
programme. For them, the social work was to give some economic training. Why
the people are poor, why there is social inequality were not the questions for
them. Then, we decided to start our work from one of the remotest part called
Dhondsi in Bandoda village. We started women empowerment programme for the
Gawada community in Dhondsi. And, after two years we found our routes in
Cotigao, Mulinge - Kudchire, Deusu- Koragao and Cumbarjua of Tiswadi. We chose
these villages, because they were termed as remote, backward and poor villages.
Cotigao was like utopia of Goa. It was self-reliant place committed for their
living with the forest and nature. The people, here were of very strong
virtues, character and culture. And, what we found here was that such beautiful
people were facing problem of eviction, a problem about their very existence.
Who says that Goa got freedom in 1961?
The people of Cotigao, and for that matter, many such villages like
Cotigao have still not got freedom. The people had no drinking water. They were
fetching water from 4 to 5 kilometres. However, there was not single liquor
shop in Cotigao. The first learning I got about environment and ecology was
from Cotiagao. ….
The first task was before us to mobilise the people or the people’s
anger. We witnessed 100% participation
from women, Velip and Kunbi communities for the mass agitations organised in
Cotigao. But, till date they have not got the rights over the land and forest.
In Bandoda, Korgao and Cotigao, we continued with some of the developmental
activities for two – three reasons, one, to address the issue of extreme
poverty in remote areas and secondly, to organise the people for their own
rights. In between, while fighting in Cotigao against the issue of eviction, what
we found was that the Government started competing with us and started alluring
the people. Then, Government built a road. You will find the character of road
as nothing but a black cobra. The road starts from city and goes to villages
destroying natural resources and bringing all the bad things of the cities.
Then, liquor shops were opened and contracts were given in this village … Then, we realised that the Government was on
ugly path of competition and our presence is making the things worst. Our presence
did not inspire Govt. to cooperate and do good work. Therefore, we decided to
withdraw from Cotigao. We took the issue of drinking water and none other than
Pratapsingh Rane, the then chief Minister of Goa, stopped our whole bore well
project. I went along with Late Madhav Bir; his explanation was “why you are
doing this work? Government is doing this work.” Even today, there is no change
in the character of Government. In Pedne, again, we were doing all sorts of
developmental activities, with the help of the Government programmes,
Panchayats and our own project programmes. We had good presence in five
Panchayats of Pedne taluka. But, after five-six years we have realised that we
have become Government Development Officers and people are looking towards us
as providers and not as enablers. Of course, there is a limit for such works by
any voluntary organisation. Then, we thought to take up another issues. Then,
we tried the issue of salt. We started taking up the issue of afforestation.
And then, we found that the oppositions are more there. We also found that our
colleagues there have no interest in such issues. They were happy as providers
but they did not want to be enablers. Our colleagues thought that, if they
become providers then, they can become Panchas and Sarpanchas and even some
thought of contesting assembly elections also. So, getting personal mileage was
also one of the internal motives of many ‘social workers’. We have realised
this culture here. If nothing is getting in terms of personal mileage then, it
is not social work. Empowering and enabling the people is not their task. We
had a background of working at national level. We had many obligations to work
at national level also. Doing voluntary works at local level was also helping
our national role. The Cotigao was nation and taught us how to take the issue
of Adivasis and poor people who are living in and around forest. Therefore, we
organised two national consultations of southern India activists, which
resulted into a massive ‘Save Western Ghats March’. I think all of you are
aware about Western Ghats March’. The
Daily Guardian of England said “it was a massive national initiative to protect
Western Ghat environment’. The people from every walk of life, the academicians
the writers, the authors, the journalists, the farmers, the women the students,
the adivasis, every one was the participant and the leader of this ‘Save
Western Ghat March’. We had a massive conference at Ramnathi. About 700 people
from western area participated and the whole opportunity created through the
march was spoilt because of ego within few players, because of lust to share
the resources and because of greed for propaganda. I remember till today one of
the activists who has big name said ‘why you wanted to refund the money to
Government of India, I will give you vouchers, Government money should not be
refunded’…. For silly reason, we lost great opportunity of creating ecological
people’s politics in the five states of Western Ghats. It is not only the
politicians are betraying with the people even the representatives of civil
society with narrow mind set, inbuilt ego are betraying the people. However,
that time we got lot of acceptability, lot of courage to work on vast area of
ecology and environment…
Goa was facing imposition of
huge project of Nylon 66. The Dupont one of the largest multi-national
companies was trying to capture the Goa, by putting a plant at the beautiful
plateau of Keri village. And, as you know that after eight years of fighting, a
joint effort of the PS of Goa and the people of Keri and Sawai Vere, the plant
was removed and the Government also changed its stand that if people did not
want any project then it will not be imposed on them…
Then, during formation of eco-forum, which was again a milestone, we
reminded that, so far, we have not gone to the people to generate a mind set
about Goan type of development. And therefore, let us go the people with the
document of Eco-forum in order to think about Goan development and not the type
of development envisaged by Karnataka, Hyderabad. To maintain the peculiarity
of Goa is also our task as civil society and dreamers for better society. What
happened again? We lost our commitment to go to the people. It was again
betrayal. If one sees the mandate of Eco-forum, the mandate says that we have
to go to the people and create a new culture, new psychology, new understanding
and new belief about Goan way of development. So that in future, no any
Government shall dare to impose any thing and destroy the natural resources of
Goa. And the failure of Eco-forum again created a question that PS in Goa could
work together with other like-minded organisations. Since the beginning, we
have not only tried to work on our own, remember 1983 to 1995, we carried different
names and banners but we were also trying to work together as representative of
real development. But these two, the success of Nylon- 66 and not following the
mandate of Eco-forum created lack of trust among the civil society of Goa. And,
I do believe that it has also created a vacuum for political players to do
whatever they wanted to do. In today’s situation, we should not only blame the
politicians. We were capable enough to change the mindset of Goa but that role
we have not played after these two or three successes. We are not capable
people to know how to digest the success and convert the same for longer
innings towards a better society.
In between, we bought this land. We failed to get land from
communidades because of social structure again, I do believe. Then, we bought
his land and started working here. We were welcomed with stones and abusive
language of the political mafias. I was a terrible time, a testing time.
However, today we are proud citizens of Madkai. Today, the common citizens have
excellent relationship with us. This campus has become toady a sort of ground
for various activities. We have organised 28 NSS camps among other different
national and regional workshops and camps. We have tried to do the experiment
on organic farming. The experiment is going on with some visible success.
Today, we are able to say that this campus is self-reliant. You can see the
health of the trees, how they were in 1980’s and how they are today. People may
change their words but these trees and animals do not… Our dream is to make
this nearly half acre land a really viable model for a better living around
2006 to 2007. In Goa, besides, in the field of development and in the field of
environment, we got access in yet another field of Panchayats. The rural India
got constitutional space only after 45 years of Independence.
Till date, Panchayat was the mistress of the whims of the state
Government. But certain basic legislation was laid down by the parliament to
empower particularly the OBCs and women. And we took this task. We had national
workshop at Gandhiji’s ‘Seva Gram’. Then, we organised a two-day’s workshop in
this campus. Then, we had series of workshops on Panchayati Raj at various
places. Till date, we are using this constitutional avenue as tool for
empowering weaker sections, especially the OBCs and women.
We have faced lot of working problems. So far, 34 people have played
role in governance of PS. But, the fact is that till date, not any committee
has sat together for two days or three days and made a mind about long-term
work. That is one of the lacunas, which we faced always. Among other problems,
one major problem, which we faced for many years, was of the Budhawants (the
so-called or self-proclaimed intelligentsia), ‘hanv sangataa tu aik’. If one
person was speaking, then the other’s job was to keep quite and say ‘hai
saiba’. The democracy was confined to the vision of one person. And therefore,
one can see the deviation in our activities. What he feels we need to do, we
should do. If he feels we should do this sort of research then, we should do
that research. If he feels we should honour this person then, we should honour
that person. There was no collective cord within the committee but few
individuals were trying to see that their vision becomes the vision of PS. It
took almost 15 to 16 years of time to come out of such undemocratic type of
imposition by Budhwants. Today, I must say that we have very balanced committee
trying to work collectively and with transparency. Eight months before, we have launched a web site
‘peacefulsociety.org’. The web site carries almost all the information. We have
also put finances on the web. Our efforts are also to put entire finance
statement on web site starting from 1983 to March2003 by March2004. Every one
is free to refer that because this organisation is for the people. If it is not
for the people then, this organisation must die today it self…
We still believe that the Panchayati Raj is Constitutional Avenue to
revive the political culture of Goa and India. We still need continuous
follow-up in Goa and also in other states in the field of Panchayati Raj. We
have tried to save this village Madkai through Panchayat. The Panchayats still
have lot of positive role to play in the development of any village. We have
also played a role in protecting rivers in Goa and even in India, particularly
in the context of recent huge plan of Government to interlink major rivers by
spending around two hundred million dollars. We have to protect all the resources…”
Ulhas Arolkar:
To above talk, Shri Ulhas Arolkar added further missing points with
particular reference to PSP and Swaraj. He took stock of how the forum of
Swaraj emerged and took definite shape by inviting like-minded Gandhian and other
social activists and organisations that strongly believed in the concept of
Swaraj as envisaged by Gandhi. He also explained the unique process applied to
design VMRSP of Swaraj. He explained at length how the process of
‘Participatory Strategic Planning’ works by involving the grass root people in
decision.
Learning from
the past with a view to the future response.
(Highlighting contextual
relevance of and lessons from interventions, strategy and methodology)
Panellists: Dr. Aureliano
Fernandes, Shri Roland Martins, Shri Shantaram Pandere
Moderator: Shri Greg D’costa
(This is an unabridged speech reproduced here. In his neat and well conceptualised critical review Dr. Aureliano touched and critically analysed many points which certainly will guide PS and prove beneficial immensely in determining the future VMRSP of PS. He also posed several critical questions in the light of the views expressed by Shri Mani.)
“Kalanand has very frankly outlined the struggles any NGO has to
undergo in its initial stage. We have institutions, some of them may be very
effective, but their effectiveness is in many senses of the term non-democratic
in nature. I think even Musharraf can make very good institution out of
Pakistan but his style of functioning is non-democratic. So how many
institutions in Goa do we have which are really successful due to participatory
and democratic functioning? The one institution, which could work, was
Communidades. But, today it is in very bad shape. At a particular point of time
it had value but, I think due to general insensitiveness, non- participation of
people and looking at it as caste institution, it has failed. You look at the
institution of Goa Medical College. It was the first medical institution in
Asia. What happened after that? You look at NGOs, there may be number of
exceptions but, I am saying in general, look at this organisation i.e. PS. If
you want to look at this organisation, you have to look from the context of
democratic surviving institutions. Do we have any such strong democratic
institutions surviving today? If Kalanand is very harsh in analysing PS then,
he should also see what is happening around. I think there is no institutional
culture in Goa. Of course this is open
for discussion and I am ready to break the ice. I think Kalanand is little
severe on the institution because if you look at the history of organisations,
it is actually the history of humanity where you find egos, betrayals, collapse
of empires and power struggles.
Kalanand has said few things, which I also have in mind. When I saw the
brochure, which was mailed underlining number of activities, the first
question, which came to my mind, which Kalanand has also admitted towards the
end, was the need to have vision. You
may have done tremendous amount of work, which is really commendable. But, can
that be formulated in terms of vision? In public policy there is some thing
called moving away from activity to policy or vision document. Now the first
question is, is it necessary for the PS now to frame a vision document? Second
question is, you may do number of activities, and I find that PS has worked in
the areas of community and social action by way of formation of social action
groups, environmental action, economic programmes basically in terms of
empowering rural people, research and documentation and capacity building. Can
PS unite all these in its vision document? Second question is, whether it is
necessary to move away from event to a particular calendar. Once, we identify
that this is the core area we have to work upon and reach to certain goal
within 10 to 20 years of time then, do we have a calendar to arrive there or is
it just event? In our Political science Department also when American Centre
says to organise a n event on good governance then, International Centre books
a conference room in any five star hotel and we organise it. If, German
foundation says we have to organise a seminar on federalism and, if we get fund
then, we have it. Now, the question is whether this fits into our vision
statement or is it because of the dynamics of politics or society that we need
to have it? There are some remarks made earlier by Mani about publicity through
web site. Is it not also significant to put in publication the tremendous work
that has been done by PS? This is very important in social science to
understand the various dynamics of any organisation. This explains how an
organisation grows, competes and succeeds. Secondly, it is also important in
terms of tremendous amount of data collected by PS, say e.g. in the field of
health, environment. Formal documentation of the research data is very
essential because that could prove as resource and learning to other
Governmental and Non-Governmental organisations. Then, with regard to issues
taken up by PS, what is very important is the sustainability. When an issue is
taken up then, the question is how long or how consistently we can take up this
issue. There may be certain issues, which are temporary, and there may be
certain issues, which are long term. Then, the question is how well one can
engage in attending short term or long-term issue.
In terms of PS, if two people move out, what happens to the next 20
years? Is there an institutional structure, which could survive?
Regarding mobilisation of finances, Ulhas has outlined how PS has
derived support from other institutions. But when we speak of next 20 years
then, we need to define certain areas in which we wish to move. The biggest
problem with NGOs is to comply with what the funding Agency has to say. In
terms of 20 years, you should be very clear about certain things-
·
From
where will you mobilise the finances?
·
Which
direction will you move?
Because, very often, the projects which are hi-fi and big profile, say
e.g. World Bank, ask you to cut a cake in a particular way and serve it as it
is. So, does this institution has finances sorted out? And, does it match the
vision?
I think PS has done good work in researches. This kind work has to be multi-disciplinary
and holistic in approach. Being this institution following Gandhian principles,
we need to reinterpret what Gandhi said in the present context. We have also to
reinterpret certain core values of important religions today. Broadly speaking,
PS holds development of the weaker section as its vision. So, you should have
some sort of definition of what is development and what is underdevelopment and
accordingly in what direction you will have to move. While concluding, I should
congratulate PS for this tremendous amount of dedication, which may be lacking
in certain areas as rightly pointed out by Shri Mani. PS has to meet the
challenges of politics, power and society to be successful in next 20 years.
Next, the core value of absolute commitment upheld by PS, in spite of ups and
downs it has undergone, is essential to achieve success in next 20 years.”
Roland Martins:
Following are some of the important points touched upon by Shri R.
Martins:
“Survival in any movement is very crucial. I have seen lot of
organisations from 1978, the time when I was in the student movement that have
come and gone. So, first of all for surviving for 20 years, I congratulate PS.
At this moment, we have high turn out rate of NGOs in Goa. In our Documentation
Centre at Mapusa, we are noticing newer and newer organisations coming up. What
is worrying me about is the whole concept of vision, as earlier said by
Aureliano. I think today many organisations are worried about first opening a
bank account that is their first vision. And, the moment their Bank account
either dries up gets frozen, they end up their organisation. I would like to
see at PS from the context of what is happening in Goa. Ideologically, lot of
debates are going on at local as well as national level. Politically, also lot
of debates are going on at country level as well as at global level in the
context of Goa. I would like to raise certain points regarding the role PS in
the context of Goa and there is lot that PS has done out side Goa which is also
very significant. There are few organisations, which operate from Goa and have
spread across the country. The one among these is PS. By looking at 20 years of
PS, I think it is a very important time for us to understand the pressures and
pulls that are there. Today, the whole
context of social work, movement, participation and activities is being
debated. Today, you cannot find young people in the social movement. We always
feel that there is need of student organisation. You cannot find quality of
social work or dedication from people unless there is background.
This is some thing one needs to reflect upon. What is the role of PS; let us say in building a second line
leadership? It is important not only for PS but any social organisation or
movement to move forward.
Other day, some body was talking about cooperative movement and I was
shocked. There is a monthly magazine coming out from cooperative movement,
there is a training centre at Panaji and still there are many fraudulent
cooperative societies in Goa swindling people’s money. This is a serious
problem today that why cooperative banks are collapsing? I remember the early
eighties, the movement of Nylon 66, when people were calling Mani as outsider.
Many people have found society as piggyback. From the Eco-forum or Nylon- 66,
if any thing we have to learn then, it is political party, i.e. BJP that is the
greatest beneficiary. I have never seen such a significant use of any NGO
movement by priests, by nuns and what not by a political party. So, one has to
look at all these happenings around. In the Ponda heartland, to set a campus is
not an easy thing and that too by a Bihari fellow, what a capacity! – These
were some of the general sarcastic remarks during those initial days. As long as
PS is lying low, there is no problem. But, the moment PS started talking
ideological politics, the trouble started. This is a challenge before society.
I think the most visible impact is in the field of Panchayati Raj. If PS wants
to develop a centre for Panchayati Raj activities in order to take Panchayati
Raj ahead then, care should be taken to decide what are the kinds of people
required as resource persons, how to mobilise resources are some of the crucial
questions. I see Mani as extra critical about the whole finances, the way the
finances are put on the web etc. I personally feel that this really does not
matter because ultimately how much faith and contact an organisation have with
the people really matters. If Government decides irrespective of transparent
finances, it can stop an organisation from functioning.
Now, PS should concentrate on what could be done more on environmental
issues. Lot could be done on this front. Therefore, what is important is long
term planning….”
Shantaram Pandere:
Following are the important points reflected upon by Shri Pandere –
·
We
have to always remember that no socio-cultural movement or an NGO could become
replacement to existing Government.
·
We
are not going to form a political party.
·
Many
reactions from various quarters of life are supposed to come. They were there
in the past, are in the present and shall also continue in the future. These
are positive signs.
·
If
you feel like receiving praises from all quarters of life then, it is an
illusion.
·
Criticism
should not hurt or harm you. Therefore welcome constructive criticism.
·
We
should avoid criminal criticism.
·
Committee
members should interact, broaden their circle and involve academicians and
other activists in planning and implementation of the activities.
·
To
form broad groups from different faculties.
·
We
shall not react to criticisms. We shall speak people’s voice.
·
We
have to understand basic differences between Asian and western culture.
·
We
should have review of the organisation in the light of our experiences at
individual as well as at collective level.
·
In
India, there has always been separation of experiences and information.
·
Experiences
+ information shall lead to knowledge.
·
PS
must prove its identity by living with the people and understanding them.
·
You
need certificate from the people and not from Government or other
organisations.
·
PS
should rewrite history of itself and also of the down trodden.
·
PS
should mobilise its own financial and intellectual resources.
REMARKS BY THE PARTICIPANTS:
Following are the important
suggestions and remarks by the participants-
Ramesh Gawas:
·
The
social structure is an obstacle usually in the growth of an organisation.
·
Usually,
there exists a tug of war / power politics in an organisation. This being a greatest
challenge, we have to study it.
·
A
common consensus is lacking among the like-minded organisations.
N. Shivdas:
·
Shri
Shivdas appreciated and congratulated PS and recalled the earlier days of the
inception of PS.
·
In
Goa, we are good in beginning (arambhashur). But, we cannot continue due to
internal politics.
·
PS
can take up current social issues like caste system, bus fare hike etc.
Chandrakant Shetkar:
·
The
first important work PS has done is of identifying like-minded groups and
individuals who are working for similar social cause in various parts of Goa.
The efforts were made to establish dialogue among them, to unite them together
and strengthen their solidarity.
·
Similar
efforts were also done at the National level also.
·
Goa
is being used as a laboratory by communal and fascist forces today and the
similar experiments are carried out in rest parts of India.
·
Today,
there is need of going ahead with developmental works with certain political
positioning in mind. No doubt, we cannot be political in our approach; we
cannot belong to a political party. But, we have to have a political
positioning while planning our future programmes.
V.T. John (Kerala):
·
Last
20 years dedicated works of PS are recognised by society.
·
Still,
we have to do a lot for socio-cultural change.
·
Now,
we have do not have Gandhi, Ambedkar etc. and therefore, people have to take
initiative on their own to change the society, particularly, to make society
corruption-free.
Smt. Mangala:
·
While
doing social works, PS has always to bear in mind about developing leadership
among women community in all walks of life.
·
In
Goa, it is good that there is immediate attention and appreciation by media for
any social works / actions.
·
We
have to create good journalists to build media-centres.
Gajanan Raikar:
·
At
the initial stage, we had apprehension about how Shri Mani will operate from
Goa, a strange land for him?
·
Today,
the efforts should be made to end the cultural terrorism.
·
In
the afternoon session, there was group discussion related to ecology, people’s
organisation, networking and opportunities with specific reference to PS.
Here, the first to begin sharing views was Smt. Philomena. The points, which are touched upon by her, are put in nutshell:
·
Various
challenges are faced by Goans due to globalisation.
·
Various
problems have come up due to migration of marginalised people to Goa.
·
Women
are not given power to eat the fruits of their labour.
·
Equal
participation and opportunity should be encouraged.
·
Issues
related to street children and labourer’s children should be taken up.
Shri Avertano:
·
PS
should carry ahead the activities of Panchayati Raj. For Gandhi, Panchayati Raj
was direct democracy and participation of people.
·
We
have to remember that destabilisation of existing system of governance is
always disliked by politicians.
·
There
will be corruption always. However, at grass root level people will know who is
corrupt and therefore can change such people. At higher level, we can not
understand the dynamics of corruption.
Fr. Maurick:
·
There
are many challenges before Goan society, which we can address like preservation
of ecology, threat to drinking water. We may be begging for water after 20
years.
·
The
various efforts by PS in social field should be focussed upon properly and made
known publicly at even at global level.
Soter D’Souza:
·
What
we have been discussing till morning are symptoms and we have to go to root
causes.
·
Portuguese
introduced alcoholism deliberately.
·
Now
a new religion of addiction is coming up in the form of hippi culture, drugs,
sex, political power, money, consumerism etc.
·
Human
rights are suppressed.
Chandrakant Shetkar:
·
At
Goa level, we have several challenges, one among which is that Goan society has
lost ideological base. The Goan society is inclining towards fascist
principles. It can be well noted that those who believed in secular ideology
are now moving with communal forces.
·
Still, there exists feudalism in the country.
·
Ex-CM
of Goa Late Bandodkar did two good things – one is primary education to masses
and second is committed efforts towards transferring rights upon land to masses
who were earlier simply tenants of the land and were fully at the mercy of the
land owners.
·
There
are still the same problems exists which were there in the year 1960-70. The
majority children of common men are still drivers and cleaners.
·
An
urgent evaluation of tenancy, Mundkar and Mining Acts is needed.
·
The
media is still in the hands of feudalists and capitalists.
·
Today,
we see all sorts of strategies to silence the voice of people.
·
The
fate of a young child is in dark today and is simply over burdened by an
educational system created by competitive world.
Sri Ansariji:
·
Encouragement
should be provided to youth community for their more involvement in social
field.
·
Imposing
views of the communal forces in the name of education misguides today’s youth.
·
The
rights of the media and journalists are curtailed.
Mr Soter:
·
What
is the other alternative to fascist forces?
·
Do
we have any strategy as do have?
Girish Bhat:
·
We
have to remember that the land and natural resources in Goa are limited.
·
There
is excessive population; one of the reasons is due to migration of labourers
from other states.
·
Due
this, there are severe effects upon development of the state and also upon
natural resources besides, rising unemployment in the state.
·
Today,
the interest of the contractor and building lobbies are taken into consideration
during planning as never before.
·
Priority
should be provided while planning to core issues like health and environment
and not to film festivals etc.
·
Today,
democracy has become for, of and by politicians.
·
Agriculture
is neglected today.
Reggie Gomes:
·
We
should use freedom of coming / meeting together.
·
PS
should take lead in bringing together all like-minded NGOs in Goa.
·
Gandhi
is very relevant today.
V. T. John:
PS should take initiative to bring all secular forces together in Goa.
What is needed today is a fight against cultural fascism.
We should use medium like FM channel to propagate for the survival of
mother earth.
In summary, Dr. Aureliano
put following points derived out of the discussions for every one to further
reflect upon:
The Important Challenges
Before Society-
Corruption, caste divisions, poverty, degradation of moral values, the poor quality of education, crisis in education, total domination of all sphere of society by Government, questions about the rights of dalits, poor and other marginalised sections of the society.
ISSUES AT GOA LEVEL:
Þ
Ill effects of - Globalisation, Tourism;
Þ
Issues related to women;
Þ
Direct democracy and Panchayati Raj;
Þ
Ecology and drinking water;
Þ
How well and effectively we can publicise even the
smallest efforts by this organisation towards social change for generating
awareness among the masses;
Þ
Youth empowerment;
Þ
Land issues and
Þ
Governance system
Shri Ramchandra Prabhu Desai successfully concluded the day’s programme on National Consultation with vote of thanks. And with a final resolution for the next 20 years.
We, the associates, friends, well-wishers
workers and fellows of Peaceful Society gathered here from Goa and other parts
of India in order to celebrate and review the 20 years of Peaceful Society in
service, hereby adopt following resolution for future course of action for PS
at local as well as at national level. At national level, PS should work as
medium to bring together like-minded forces, NGOs, VOs, POs and individuals in
order to build up common consensus on state as well as national issues. At Goa
level, this consultation has opened up several issues with their multi-faceted
dimensions for PS to intervene and play its role in possible manner. Among
these are- Ill effects of - Globalisation, Tourism, Issues related to women,
direct democracy and Panchayati Raj, Ecology and drinking water, effectively
publicity to the efforts by this organisation towards social change for generating
awareness among the masses, Youth empowerment, Land issues, Governance system
etc.
A year ahead from this date shall be considered and utilised
as a year for contemplation and meditation upon what best role could PS play in
social field at the local as well as national level. This could enable PS to
frame more meaningfully its VMRSP for next 20 years.
Report: Ulhas Arolkar
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