19th December 2018 Goa celebrated its Liberation Day. We have experienced 57 years of freedom after over 400 yrs. of the oppressive rule of the foreigners.
Today if we ask some of the people who lived in Goa at that time, they proudly claim that we are free citizens of our country, however if asked to compare the things then and now, immediate comes the reply, “vast difference”. No doubt our Goa has seen a lot of progress, lots of development in the 57 years gone by. But you analyse the development and its benefit to the locals, the reply turns very sour and bitter.
Post liberation the Government then and the subsequent governments that followed went into an over drive for development, as such we felt the need for educated and trained personnel needed to oversee the development in our State. Due to the shortage of educated and trained manpower locally, the department of public works, electricity, education and water supply were flooded with personnel from neighbouring States and thus opened the flood gates of migrants into our State, and with them came all the problems and evils into our beautiful Goem.
Today we are at the crossroad. Our State has one of the highest literacy rates in the country. Our young men and women are all well-educated and trained, however in our own land we have to compete with people coming from outside our State and to make matters worse our elected Godfathers are more inclined towards the outsiders than the locals for reasons best known to them.
We have to seriously contemplate on this very complex issue of unemployment that is plaguing our tiny State. Are our young men and women passing out from the colleges and other technical institutes less competent? Are they less capable, that preferences are offered to those who have no genuine roots in our States?
Memories take me back to the late 80’s when Late Rev. Fr. Freddy Da Costa had directed his Tiatr UTT GOEMKARA and highlighted these issues then. What are we doing now? Are we going to continue with the pace of migrants flooding Goa under the guise of our constitution that any Indian can settle anywhere and work anywhere and make life miserable for the majority of ethnic Goans?
Our educated young men and women are no duds that all the nationalized Banks are flooded with outsiders who at times are unable to even speak and write simple English. Our young educated brigade has to wake up and rise up to the challenge. How long will the cruise liners sustain us? How long will London welcome you? No one knows what awaits post BREXIT.
Our young men and women are not lacking in qualification, they are not lacking in expertise, neither are they lacking in knowledge. What we need to change is our attitude. We have to inculcate the urge to work hard and achieve success. We need to imbibe in us the desire and self-belief that we too can achieve and work towards it. Unless we work towards this goal that we have it in us and we can achieve it, the future ahead is bleak.
YOUNG MEN AND WOMEN WAKE UP, TAKE UP THE CHALLENGE TILL THE TASK AHEAD IS ACHIEVED. REMEMBER! “TOGETHER WE CAN, TOGETHER WE WILL” SO WHY WAIT?
UTT GOEMKARA, ZAGO ZHA.!!
Agnelo Da Cruz