FREDERICK NORONHA
This is no new book. On the
contrary….
One had heard about ‘Springboard into the Seventies’ for a long, long time now. It was referred to, often, by those who were writing about the Goan gone by a generation prior to us. But this is a seldom seen book. Today, the usual carelessness towards the book in Goa – a historic region in its history of printing – many titles relating to our past and history, are under threat. The issue about the risks to rare and valuable books and newspapers at the Panaji Central Library has been
making news.
But let’s go back half a century, when Goa, and the rest of the world, was enthusiastically entering a new decade. Portuguese rule had ended here just a decade earlier, and, in some circles, optimism was in the air. The Goa Chambers of Commerce and Industry organised a seminar on ‘Goa’s development potential’. Both the seminar itself and the resultant book, were labelled ‘Springboard into the Seventies’.
Goa was seen to have “abundant natural resources, occupies an important part in the economy of India in as much as it earns substantial foreign exchange for the country”. Besides, some GCCI members were ranked “among the foremost businessmen of our country”, it was noted. Planning Commission then member R. Venkataraman (later the President of India) called Goa “rich in mineral, agricultural and human wealth”.
Ramrao Krishnarao Patil, writing about an “economic programme for Goa in the seventies”, was more blunt. He said a number of reports on the Goan economy
were available.
“Impressive as this desk work is, the Goan public, however, is disappointed at the tardy implementation of the well-publicised development programmes. Mere enthusiasm and framing of an excellent plan are no substitutes for action,” he wrote. Patil (1907-2007), ICS, was a Gandhian who co-signed the Nagpur Pact, and was a member of the first Planning Commission set up by then
PM, Nehru.
Dredging of the Cumbarjua Canal and elsewhere, completion of the Sharavati hydro power project in what was then still Mysore, problems of soil conservation, flood control, water supply were seen as the “all interrelated” challenges facing Goa at the time.
“Population pressures in urban areas have not become severe. Slums are most absent. This is the time for taking preventive action against urban sprawl and plan for an orderly growth of old and new urban centres,” Patil commented with some prescience. Demand for land for non-agricultural purposes was growing, especially in urban areas in the coastal tract “which incidentally has the Territory’s richest ricelands”.
Patil suggested: “Though the towns in Goa are quite small compared to those in the rest of the country, Government policy should be to discourage any intensification of the urbanisation in these towns”. Land prices were “quite high” in Goa then itself, and there were “about nine types of land tenure” here.
Goa’s then industrialisation meant a pelletisation plant, a textile mill, one brewery, a few pharma plants, and alcohol breweries of the large
or medium size.
Lot of other interesting issues were coming up. The global political turmoil, the conflict over Israel then too, had led to the closing to the Suez Canal, and Goa’s ore was suddenly finding it tough to be shipped to Europe. Port issues, a pig iron plant, mechanisation of Mormugao loading, cost of shipping ore to Japan, these and more issues came up in the first few months of the
new decade.
Goa’s wage earners were estimated at 34% of the population (1950), 42 % (1970). Today, Goa has 5.2 lakh workers (2020, statista.com, which seems per capita). There were 110 vehicles per thousand population then; today 551 vehicles per thousand, the highest ratio across India.
GM Laud, the editor of The Financial Express, put things bluntly: “Eight years and a half are over since Goa became a Union Territory of India; but the hope raised by its liberation on December 19, 1961 has remained unfulfilled.”
Laud described Goa as “historically known as the seat of intelligence, education, culture and enterprise, fancied for its wonderful landscape, a network of waterways, a first rate harbour and a long coastline of 100 km dotted with minor ports….”
Other facts and opinions emerging here include:
Measured by per capita income, in 1960, even in colonial times, Goa’s affluence was about 50% higher than that of the Indian Union.
Factually, no political party – local, regional or national – has a base; but political rivalries have generated tensions in different spheres of activity. (Laud).
Goa was then seen as having a “top heavy” administration then too. Officers from New Delhi were said to “know precious little about Goa, language and personalities and look to their jobs more as a stepping stone for the next promotion elsewhere”.
Educational facilities have been turning out a larger number of university graduates seeking employment, while outside manpower had to be recruited for manning jobs which the Goan youth cannot do.
Many promises were made – a Cashew Development Corporation, facilities to produce cheese and milk powder too, a fisheries development corporation, a rayon-grade pulp factory based on eucalyptus grown in Goan forests (today, ill-fated as seen along the highway to Canacona), chlorine-processing units, a refinery unit near Mormugao, an export-oriented coast-based steel plant. How many of these have actually
materialised?
“Prohibitive” land prices, at Rs. 20 per square metre; frequent power failures; higher costs for water compared to other states; an unskilled labour shortage; fish-catch then falling short of local requirements (except in Sep-Dec) were some issues raised.
In 1970 itself, there was talk about the proposed university in Goa “bringing the university studies to bear on the particular problems and conditions of Goa”. It was noted: “The present system of education in Goa is regrettably of the traditional Indian type. Between 1970 and 1980s, the 40,000 matriculates, 5,000 graduates and 1000 engineers that are expected to pass out in Goa are likely to be products of an education in which initiative is stifled, and all will desire white-collar jobs.”
Two digit telephone phone numbers, promises to revolutionise fishing with nylon fishnets, the link-up between the Birlas and US Steel Corporation to form “the largest invest ever in Goa” Zuari Agro Chemicals Limited, among others, remind us of how those times were so different from ours.
Reading books like these also tells us about opportunities missed and promises unkept. It also gives a hint of how different our focus is from the world of the 1970s, when economic issues were kept centre-stage. Not just political controversies or
communal divides.