G'BYE GOA: GOAN EMIGRATION-5. By valmiki Faleiro.

G’bye Goa: Goan Emigration-5
By Valmiki Faleiro

Let’s look at the CDS study on Goan emigration (Goans out of the country) and on
out-migration (Goans elsewhere in India) a bit closer. I’ve studied statistics in college,
but am no expert. Yet I feel the CDS findings are a paler reflection of the reality. May
I explain.

CDS identified the sample (of households) for study, using the Stratified Multistage
Random Sampling Method, doubtlessly the best. But, while the study concluded that
more than 50% of Goan émigrés hailed from a single of South Goa’s five talukas,
Salcete, only 2,700 households were surveyed in the whole of South Goa, as against
3,300 in North Goa (having talukas like Sattari, with zero/minimal migration.) The
report says a mid course correction was done by selecting the highest number of
urban households in Tiswadi and Salcete.

Again, religion-wise, the sample reflects the population, 76% Hindu-20% Christian in
North Goa, 57% Hindu-34% Christian in South (and yet discovered that three-fourth
emigrants are Christian!)

A focused study of emigration from Bardez, Tiswadi and Salcete (and out-migration
from entire Goa) would have brought out a more realistic picture of the issue. The
pointers emerging from the study are, no doubt, valid.

Chapter 2 (“Emigration from Goa: a historical view”) is poorly written, but one can’t
expect statisticians to also be historians! Goans fared well in Africa, Portuguese and
British. In Mozambique, particularly its Zambezi region, Goans maintained private
armies. Some even proclaimed themselves kings! (In the 17th century, Portugal
encouraged colonizers, many of them Goan. Large tracts of land in Zambezi were
leased for a period of “three generations,” to better establish Portuguese claims over
the colony. The system disappeared end of the 19th century.) Goans also did well in
Lourenco Marques/Maputo, Beira and Nampula.

Goans in Zanzibar were prosperous. They had a monopoly over several trades.
Caetano Rosario de Souza (1839-1900) from Velcao excelled at both manufacture
and trade. Twice decorated by ruler Sayyed Bargash Bin-Said, he was unwittingly
caught in an international row between Portugal and France when France’s mission
in Zanzibar claimed his prime land in the capital. After diplomatic heads rolled and
the issue died down, Souza gifted his land to Portugal. King D. Carlos declared him
*Cavalier of the Military Order of Our Lord Jesus Christ.*

In British Africa, many joined the civil service, railways and telegraphs. They were
assured of better pensions. They did well in Nairobi, Mombassa, Dar es-Salaam and
Kampala. Norman Godinho built most of modern Kampala in the early 20th century
and was one of its biggest landlords. In 1956, Nairobi alone had 30,000+ Goans.

Emigration to Karachi began in 1842, after its British occupation. By 1947, several
Karachi roads bore Goan names.

Goans similarly began settling in Rangoon from the late 19th century. During the
Japanese occupation of WW-II, a few Goans opted for Burmese nationality. Most, of
course, fled.

CDS’ figure of Rs.800 crore annual remittances is arrived from data from just nine
banks in Goa. Major nationalized players like Bank of India, Central, Syndicate,
Vijaya, Dena, UCO, Indian, SB-Mysore, United, scheduled banks like Karnataka,
Federal, Vaishya, and co-operative banks, all with NRI deposits, were not counted.

As all in life, emigration/out-migration had its two sides. Some aspects of the flip side.

Émigrés are a brain drain. Goan emigrants have a higher level of education than the
general population. While the public treasury largely funds education that produces
28% percent Goans with a secondary education, 58% of them emigrate. (Of female
émigrés, 36% are graduates, against 26% males.)

Émigrés *create* social problems. Absentee husbands leave lonely wives on both
sides of age-30. (Goa’s senior journalist, Frederick Noronha, quoted in the report,
links “Adeus Korchea Vellar” to this, though I think it’s sung at weddings, as the bride
separates from family, rather than at Dabolim, when hubby’s flying out to Dubai.)
Loneliness, often leading to waywardness and, though rarely, to rape and murder, is
one of the myriad ills of emigration.

Mothers, as head of family, find difficulty coping up. Families feel insecure. Aged
parents feel isolated (and mushrooming old-aged homes in recent times explain this
sad Goan reality.) (ENDS)

The above article appeared in the Herald, Goa, edition of August 16, 2009