V M Salgaocar is popularly and rightly remembered as Goa’s first true renaissance man . Plus, pioneer, conscientious hardworking industrialist, financial innovator, leading humanitarian and philanthropist with his heart in the right place…

By Rajan Narayan

MAY 13 m a r k s the death anniversary of the late industrialist VM Salgaocar, the only Goan industrialist willing to sacrifice his business to preserve the identity of Goa. Vasudev Salgaocar or VM was the only one who really vigorously participated in the antimerger movement with Maharashtra in 1967. The late Prime Minister Indira Gandhi had agreed to hold an Opinion Poll to decide if Goa should merge with Maharashtra or retain its own independent identity. It was presumed that since the Goan Hindu people were in a majority the Opinion Poll would go in favour of Maharashtra. But VM Salgaocar was different and far-sighted. While the entire Catholic population of Goa and even Goan Catholics who flew in from outside Goa to cast against merger, it was VM who mobilized the Goan Hindus against merger. It was VM who organized all the advertising and other campaigns against merger. VM financed theatrical plays or Goan Konkani tiatr and public rallies strongly opposing Goa’s merger with Maharashtra. He even founded a Marathi paper called “Rashtramat” which opposed merger for good reasons. There was considerable pressure on VM Salgaocar from both the political lobby in Goa and industrial, political lobby in Maharashtra. Industries Minister of Maharashtra, then DP Nayak, visited Vasudev Salgaocar his office in port town Vasco da Gama. It was big industrialist Yeshwantrao Chowgule in Vasco da Gama who was vehemently pro-merger who took the industries minister to VM. Carrots were dangled and VM was told that Goa was very small and that Maharashtra would offer him far more opportunities for expansion. VM was assured government assistance in Maharashtra and also the help of the Maratha lobby in the national capital Delhi. VM is reported to have offered them hospitality. He listened to his visitors very patiently. Then commented that if he accepted merger there would be no Goa – and Goa is the dearest to him. No other industrialist had the courage to oppose both the local MGP Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party government led by the first chief minister of Goa, Bhausaheb Dayanand Bandodkar, and the Maharashtra government. VM’S EFFORTS IT IS primarily due to the efforts of VM Salgaocar that Goa won in the Opinion Poll. The anti-merger lobby won by 50,000 votes. These were presumably mostly Hindu votes. This proved that as many Hindus were in favour of Goa retaining its individual identity as Catholics. It was a combination of the UGDP leader Jack da Sequeira and VM Salgaocar who together fought off the dragon of merger. VM Salgaocar lost his parents when he was 13 years old. VM started his business career as a smalltime grocery shop owner in Ribandar near Panjim. VM realized that wholesale trade in vegetables was more profitable than retail trade. So VM would go to Belgaum every day to the wholesale market there to collect his stocks of vegetables. He made friends with the engine drivers of the trains going to Vasco and saved on transport cost of his goods bought in Belgaum. Vasco da Gama was a very important port town in Portuguese times. A large number of both civilian and military ships called at Vasco. They all needed replenishments of their fresh perishables like vegetables, meats, liquor, etcetera. Those who provided this service were called stevedores. VM graduated to be one of the biggest stevedores in Vasco because owners of ships and captains had implicit trust in the quality of the material supplied by VM. They knew he would not cut corners or cheat. Soon VM’s fortunes took a turn for the better when he was granted a lease for mining of iron ore by the Portuguese government. He invited the best geologist to do a survey of his mining land. Once the ore deposits were located in normally hilly areas, VM bought heavy mining machinery like tractors and whatever else was needed. Thought the ore mining trails were tough VM Salgaocar personally visited the mining sites every week. Since VM was a generous employer he had the full support from his team. VM was amongst the first to discover that it was more economical to transport iron ore by river than road. The roads then were narrow and primitive, not like today’s broad roads. He bought river barges from Germany and these were put to transporting ore from the mines to Mormugoa harbour port. When the quantity of ore mined to be exported increased VM bought a transhipper which go further out to sea. In deeper sea waters the ore would be transferred from the barges to the transhippers – vessels which could transport large quantities of ore to the ships waiting to take them to Japan and Korea. MODERN VISIONARY VM WAS very committed to the people of Goa. He was the first to build a modern hospital in Vasco and it was fully equipped. He set up the Salgaocar Law College in Panjim. Amongst the first hotels in Goa was La Paz Hotel in Vasco da Gama and it was started by VM. Above all, the great football fan that he was, VM sponsored the Salgaocar Football Club, it won all the top trophies in the country. Vasudev Salgaocar was the only industrialist who paid a regular salary to his football players. It is a supreme irony that the man who built the first private hospital in Goa eventually died for want of timely adequate medical attention. VM was alone at home when his wife Hirabai and two sons Shivanand and Dattaraj were visiting the family deity temple outside Goa. Dr Tito D’souza, the doctor in charge at the Salgaocar Medical Research Centre hospital, had gone to see another patient, when the emergency arose. Alas, even the car driver and servants were away on other assignments. It was the tragic circumstances in which Vasudev Salgaocar lost his life which later prompted the family to set up a first class cardiac unit at the SMRC. It is not widely known that Dr Guru Prasad, who now heads the Thoracic Cardiac unit at the GMC was initially in charge of the SMRC’s Cardiac Unit in Goa before he went away to the USA for further studies. AS EDITOR OF `OHERALDO’ WHEN I came to Goa in 1983 (to convert the Portuguese paper “OHeraldo” into an English daily paper and edit it for the next 20 years), I had decided to make a courtesy call on VM Salgaocar. He was extremely cordial to me but was very bitter about Goan politics. There are stories that at some of the famous parties he threw, he would loudly shout at a minister concerned for sins of omission and commission. VM Salgaocar was the soul of courtesy but he could not suffer fools gladly. VM used to write long 10 to 15-page letters when I was editing “OHeraldo.” I was delighted to carry his letters because they were a gold mine of information. VM Salgaocar conferred the privilege of considering me his friend. It is with great regret VM passed away within just a few years of my joining the “OHeraldo.” He was cremated in the huge family estate adjacent to his residence and hospital complex. I had the privilege of attending the funeral along with my publisher, the late AC Fernandes.