HIGH FLY DINING IN THE SKY: The government wants Goa to become another Las Vegas or Mauritius to bring in high end tourists to make it the tourism capital of India. Except that Minister for Road Transport & Highways Nitin Gadkari also wants to turn Goa into a coal hub for the benefit of Gautam Adani and the Jindals. This may offer all high end tourists the novel experience of returning to their homes covered in coal dust. Picture depicts wealthy tourists dining on a cloud at 160 feet above sea level at Grand Hyatt Bambolim, damages are reportedly Rs3,000 per guest for 45 minutes in the air presumably drinking champagne and munching on canapes! Any takers? You will be surprised – there are takers!
By Rajan Narayan
AND a few stray thoughts for yet another Saturday. For a Saturday following the week when the Association of Democratic Rights revealed that more than half the members of the new cabinet have a criminal record. For a Saturday following the week when Governor Sreedharan Pillai in his address in the new assembly government confirmed that the BJP is obsessed with tourism. For a Saturday following the week when Chief Minister Pramod Sawant claimed that three domestic gas cylinders will be distributed to every household in keeping with the BJP’s election manifesto. For a Saturday following the week when the chickens came home to roost with China facing the largest number of new covid cases in the world. For a Saturday following the week when the All India Council of Technical Education (AICTE) shocked all educationalists by eliminating mathematics as a condition for entry into engineering colleges. For a Saturday following the week when Prashant Kishor whose IPAC was booted out of Goa claimed that he intends on joining the Congress to fight the Gujarat elections.
ADR REPORTS
AND a few stray thoughts on the All-India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) and the ADR (Association for Democratic Reforms) report revealing that the majority of MLAs given cabinet berths by Pramod Sawant have a criminal record. The second senior-most member of the cabinet, namely Mauvin Godinho from Dabolim, is allegedly implicated in a power theft scam case.
When Mauvin Godinho was the power minister in the Pratapsingh Rane cabinet in the late 90s, a decision had been taken to suspend the rebate in power tariff to the steel rolling mills. This is because the steel rolling mills which melt scrap in an electrical furnace, to convert them into consumer products like rods and sheets, had come to Goa only to take advantage of the low power tariff. Successive chief ministers and industry ministers got massive kickbacks from the owners of steel rolling mills.
Despite the Rane cabinet having decided to suspend the rebates, Mauvin Godinho in defiance of the cabinet order continued to extend rebates to Mormugoa Steel, which is run by one of the poor relatives of the London-based Mittal family. Interestingly, the complaint against Mauvin Godinho was filed by Manohar Parrikar who was then only an MLA. Soon after the complaint was filed the Pratapsingh Rane government was toppled by a group of rebel Congressmen headed by Francisco Sardinha.
The very same Francisco Sardinha who allegedly commented in Parliament that Manohar Parrikar had been struck down by pancreatic cancer because of his karma. If ministers and politicians are visited by divine retribution, none of them would survive, since each of them is worse than the other when it comes to looting the public treasury.
Francisco Sardinha himself was allegedly accused of getting a huge kickback on the Rs1,50,00,000 bond issue. The government at that time was bankrupt and nobody would subscribe to the bonds floated by the government. This is why the EDC was asked to float the bond issue. The normal concession for marketing government bonds is a maximum of 1%. Francisco Sardinha hired an agency that was promised a 5% commission. When the broker concerned was asked why the commission was so high, he confessed that the commission included the kickback to the chief minister.
There is no order among thieves. Manohar Parrikar promised that he would take firm action against Francisco Sardinha for inflating the commission. But by then, the Sardinha government was toppled. And a new government was formed by Manohar Parrikar with the help of Congress rebels but on this occasion, also the support of the BJP MLAs who had been elected for the first time. Among the Congress rebels supporting the first Manohar Parrikar government, was the former power minister, Mauvin Godinho. When Mauvin threatened to quit the new alliance headed by Manohar Parrikar, the chief minister went into a panic.
To appease Mauvin Godinho, the chief minister went to the Panjim Police Station and tried to withdraw the complaint against Mauvin. Unfortunately for him, the police refused to let him withdraw the case. A charge sheet has been filed and all attempts by Mauvin to have the case withdrawn or A-finalled have been in vain. When the police or the prosecution want to close the case they used the expression “A-finalled.”
This is particularly true of sensitive political cases. (I myself had been a victim of the A-finalled syndrome.) The cases against the present Santa Cruz MLA Rudolph Fernandes and his gang of goons was closed under pressure from Babush Monserrate. The member of the new cabinet who has the largest number of criminal cases against him is Atanasio (Babush) Monserrate. It is not widely known that Babush is a monster created by Manohar Parrikar.
The Manohar Parrikar-led government in 2002 did not have the numbers needed to hold on to power. It was at this juncture that Parrikar approached Babush. Babush not only resigned his status as Congress MLA but got himself re-elected as a BJP MLA. Babush also managed to get three other MLAs, namely Pandurang Madkaikar of Cumbarjua, Isidore Fernandes of Canacona and Tony Fernandes of Santa Cruz. He got them to resign as Congress MLAs and elected on a BJP ticket.
The fact that Manohar Parrikar was dependent on him to survive as chief minister, made the Taleigao strongman extremely arrogant. The ego of Babush was inflated so much by Manohar Parrikar that he had the audacity to attack the Panjim Police Station. The provocation was that the police had arrested some of his goons and he wanted them to be released. At the head of a huge mob which included his wife Jennifer and the then mayor, Tony Fernandes, Babush attacked the Panjim Police Station and even beat up the women constables.
No action was taken against him as Manohar Parrikar could not afford to antagonize him. But the successor Congress government filed a case against him. Following directions from the Supreme Court to fast track cases against political criminals, the additional session’s judge has been hearing the case against Babush. The problem with the attempts by the Election Commission and the Supreme Court to decriminalize politics is that the Centre has no control over the district courts which may keep postponing a case indefinitely.
It is 20 years since Babush attacked the police station and the court has not yet given a verdict. Babush has also got a case for raping a minor which has been settled in court. Allegedly both the mother of the girl and the victim have been compensated for being cooperative.
TOURISM OBSESSION
AND a few stray thoughts on Governor Sreedharan in his address to the assembly which confirms that the BJP is obsessed with tourism. It is a historical ritual that the governor address the first session of a new government. But the so called governor’s address, which is supposed to list the achievements of the government and it’s plans for the future, is actually drafted by the chief minister. In this sense the governor is just a parrot. It seems clear from Governor Pillai’s address and all the hectic tourism related infrastructure that the government has been putting up, that any development in Goa will be for the benefit of tourists and not the locals.
As far as the locals are concerned, they couldn’t care whether the fancy new Zuari bridge has a towering tower with a revolving restaurant or not. Goans would be would be happy if the bridge does not develop potholes within a month of construction, as it happened with the prestigious Atal Setu bridge. The Madras Indian Institute of Technology has been asked to inspect the Atal Setu bridge to find out the quality of the cement used by the contractor of the engineering giant Larsen & Toubro.
Historically, Larsen & Toubro has a record for excellence. Indeed, recently they built a huge complex for the Defense Research & Development Organisation in 45 days using the latest technology. In most countries in the world, all buildings now use pre-cast concrete slabs to set up instant buildings. Indian builders including Goan builders are in the bullock cart age when it comes to building technology.
The problem with the Atal Setu Bridge was not any negligence by Larsen & Toubro. All the damage was caused by the local contractor they were forced to employ, Venkat Rao, who happens to be the son-in-law of Vice-President Venkaiah Naidu. Venkat Rao specializes in building potholes rather than bridges or roads. He makes a huge profit on every project gifted to him. Needless to say Venkat Rao shares his profits with the chief minister and the PWD minister.
FLY DINING
THE Latest tourism attraction in town is courtesy the Grand Hyatt Bambolim. They are now offering you the experience of having dinner 160 feet above ground level, literally in the clouds. The fine dining area structure is put up by a crane and hangs by steel rods.
Similarly, a recent happening at the Saipen Hilton Hotel offered a high powered conference, fashion show and upmarket stalls offering luxury products. This was for the benefit of the bold and beautiful, rich and powerful of Goa’s upper crust society. The joke was that it was the queen of Congo, a small African state, who was the Chief Guest of the luxury event.
Another latest looting plan under the guise of promoting tourism is to encourage mariners to come to half-a-dozen places in Goa. Mariners require anchorage space at sea or river vantage points to park their luxury yachts while they tour the local sights, but return to their yachts to party or rest and recreate. The largest number of super-luxury yachts which could cost between Rs200-Rs500 crore are owned by Russian oligarchs.
Maybe Narendra Modi wants adventuring mariners to have a park created in Goa for the Russian billionaire friends of Russia’s President Vladimir Putin, who have made massive contributions to Modi’s We Care Fund. Everyone cares for Narendra Modi, but not for the wretched and poor for whom the state government has nothing to offer. From casinos to parasailing to helicopter rides to luxury cruises to fine dining perched in the sky, everything is designed to lure tourists with money to burn.
In Goa many villages and particularly those dominated by tribal communities still don’t have basic amenities, but our tourism hotspots have the latest in infrastructure. Like the Miramar promenade and the changing rooms in Calangute. This is a repetition of the English children’s nursery rhyme “Baa Baa Black Sheep.” In the case of Goa, the variation is the black sheep have plenty of wool for the master, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant. There is also a lot of wool for knaves like Vishwajit Rane, Mauvin Godinho and Ravi Naik. But there is no wool for poor Goenkars.
Why do you think the state government is not interested in strengthening public transport? The answer is simple. The logic of the government is like the attitude of Marie Antoinette, who was the queen of France. When the king told her that the people were agitated because there was no bread, she is said to have retorted, “Let them eat cake!” We Goans are caught in a similar situation. The BJP government has sold Goa on the one hand to industrialists like Gautam Adani and on the other hand permitted International Art Auction houses like Sotheby’s to purchase not just villas and flats but entire villages. Sotheby’s listings show that the auction house has bought 40 acres of prime beachfront land in Cola village.
The pretty island of Vanxim, off Divar Island, will soon be a marinar’s paradise haven servicing the rich and the famous seeking the luxury of privacy. But in this case it was the Archdiocese of Goa which who sold off the island which belongs to the Santa Monica Convent.
So, in the latest tenure of the BJP government, be ready to welcome more casinos, more brothels and more hi-fi massage parlors. A report in The Navhind Times (March 20, 2022) on the second page quotes the Calangute police to the effect that 90% of the complaints were not genuine. Earlier the cops had reported that there were 429 complaints of loud music being played after 10 pm. Why should residents sleep in peace when rich tourists high on entertainment of the mind-blowing kind bring in the moolah?
PRASHANT KISHOR AGAIN
AND a last stray thought on the master electoral strategist claiming that he is joining the Congress. Claiming that after the fiasco in Goa, Mamata Didi has cut off relationship with him, Prashant Kishor. The original plan was that Prashant would help Mamata challenge Narendra Modi in the 2024 parliamentary elections. But now with Prashant’s reputation in tatters, the only party which will accept him is the Congress.
It is appropriate that two terminal organisations, the Congress and the IPAC, should find solace in each other’s arms. Prashant Kishor and his IPAC colleagues have learned that the master’s strategies will not work in Goa. The first prime minister of India, Jawaharlal Nehru, had aptly commented, “Goa ke log ajeeb hai.” Nehru thought that Goans will be grateful for being liberated from the Portuguese and that Goans will vote for Congress candidates in the first election. To his shock, the Congress did not get a single seat.