One announcement expected this Statehood Day, May 30, 2025, is the attainment of 100 percent literacy. In July last year, it was revealed that there were 3,000 senior citizens, who had been trained to read and write, and that had taken the literacy rate to 98 percent.
It took another 10 to 11 months to ensure that the remaining two percent were literate. A big achievement for Statehood Day, but a sad reality is that Goa has reached the year 2025 with many people still unable to read and write.
So, as Goa celebrates completing 38 years of being a State, and 100 percent literate, it would be, but natural, to look back at the years and enumerate the gains of Statehood.
It’s possible that most speeches and messages on this day will include the past achievements that would depend on which side of the political fence one stands on.
So, as Goa celebrates completing 38 years of being a State and 100 percent literate, it would be but natural to look back at the years and enumerate the gains of Statehood.
Nothing wrong with basking in past glory, but then, Goa celebrates Statehood Day against the backdrop of corruption allegations.
A week ago, news broke of Rs 5 crore having been paid from the accounts of a government department through cheques to a private account. Serious indeed, as there is a paper trail and it can be detected.
Usually, such manoeuvres are rooted via other means, where evidence can be concealed or denied.
Far more serious are the corruption allegations raised by a minister in the government. We may be accustomed to hearing such allegations from the opposition and may even treat them as mere rhetoric, but when it comes from a senior minister, then these should be addressed in a different manner and not swept aside as is done with opposition statements.
Every government, every political party for that matter, speaks of eradicating corruption, with grandiose statements in public, but when there are allegations of corruption, then it is spoken about in hushed whispers, making it seem that there is nothing wrong.
We may be accustomed to hearing such allegations from the opposition and may even treat them as mere rhetoric, but when it comes from a senior minister, then these should be addressed in a different manner and not swept aside as is done with opposition statements.
Aside from the corruption allegations of the present, and looking back at the past, it would also be very pertinent to look at the future, especially at the challenges ahead to the attainment of Swayampurna Goem and Viksit Goa 2047.
For Goa, being self-reliant will never be an easy task. It took us from 1961 to 2025 to become 100 percent literate. Of course, we can do better, but the challenges are many.
One challenge of course, is something we are experiencing currently and that is the changes in the weather pattern. There is no doubt that Goa is vulnerable to climate change impacts of rising temperatures and erratic rainfall patterns. These last months, and in the current days, we have been experiencing just this. Yet, how seriously have we taken them?
These are not necessarily aberrations in weather patterns, but could have a deeper significance that can be ascertained only through further study. Simultaneously, one has to start planning to meet the changes, and also to set up disaster management plans that would tackle such changes in weather.
The weather affects different economic activity, but for illustrative purposes, I will focus on tourism as the rains have disrupted the industry.
This year’s early onset of the monsoons has brought a premature end to the tourism season. The unexpected rains drenched the beach shacks that were still up, waiting for the trickle of tourists to further reduce, forcing the shack operators to dismantle their temporary structures before the losses increased.
The unexpected rains drenched the beach shacks that were still up, waiting for the trickle of tourists to further reduce, forcing the shack operators to dismantle their temporary structures before the losses increased.
Beaches were deserted as the rains kept unsuspecting and ill-equipped holidayers indoors. Goa’s summer very suddenly turned into a monsoon that absolutely nobody was prepared for.
At the time of the year when Goa would normally be sweltering in the summer heat and eagerly awaiting the monsoons, it got an early respite from the heat as the monsoon arrived as early as May 26, one of the earliest ever, with rain showers in the previous days, too.
Tourism stakeholders, especially the shack operators and those in the vicinity of beaches, are going to have to plan their activities keeping in mind the unpredictability of the weather. But, they can’t do it without government intervention and guidelines.
Will climate change, and the effects it will have on economic activity in Goa, be among the issues discussed on Statehood Day? The present and the future are far more important than the past, that we tend to dwell upon on days of importance.
