As announced, the villagers
of Candolim under the dynamic leadership of Candolim youth organized a Rally
followed by a Public Meeting held at the Candolim Tinto in the presence of a
large number of villagers, all coming from all over the village and belonging
to all segments of the society. The Rally started at 10.30 AM from Candolim
Health Center and ended at the Tinto for the Meeting which was addressed among
others by Mr. Edwin of NGO Human Rights Defenders, Mr. Prakash of NGO Pilerne
Citizens Forum, Mr. Benedicto Pinto, Ruskin and Damaciano who in their speeches
highlighted the arrogance and “dadagiri” of the Migrant Labourers in dealing
with the locals.
Rally in progress
According to the
official rates every migrant has to charge Rs 250/- per day for doing the
labourer’s work but these migrants are charging even Rs 800/- per day and on
top of it doing dadagiri with the locals.
Some of them are demanding accompaniment of 2 labourers for one man’s
job thereby incurring heavy financial burden on the locals.
People gathered for the Meet.
In their speeches, all
the speakers especially Edwin and Prakash demanded from Goa government and especially
from the Labour Minister for whom the organizers have already submitted their
memorandum of demands, to streamline the daily wages of the migrant labourers
with the instruction to follow these wages very rigidly. They have also
requested the government to display the Wage Rates at the strategic locations
not only in Candolim but also all over Goa.
Mr. Prakash in his hard hitting speech demanded action from the
government on this issue within the next 10 days failing which this campaign
will be spread all over Goa.
Edwin seen addressing the Meet
On 19th
December 1961 Goa was not liberated but conquered as per the Supreme Court judgment.
Going a step forward, I can rightly say now that Goa is now invaded by the
Non-Goan Migrants and to tackle them is not easy even though to tackle the
Portuguese was easy For this reason, every village must form a
group to handle the menace of Migrants and all these village groups must
federate into a Federation with common aim.
Prakash seen addressing the Meet
Though most of the
locals attended the Rally and the Meet but none from the elected representatives;
nether present nor ex. This shows how
much they love such issues of public importance. Next elections are approaching fast and the
locals must not forget the non-cooperation of all these representatives. They may be expecting especial invitations
from the organizers. If yes, then
why? Are they Heavenly creatures? Their regimes are only temporary and surely
most of them will be thrown out in the next elections. They should know that they are public servants
and not masters. They must stop acting
like Maharajas.
While concluding, it is
my sincere request to every village in Goa to form such organization as
Candolim did to combat the dadagiri of migrants otherwise they will strip us to
nude because the quality of migrants in Goa is very low. They are selfish and cruel.
A. Veronica Fernandes,
Candolim,
Goa.
