Most Goenkars have already lost the few job opportunities available to the 'bhaile'. Now the saffron government is driving the last nail into the coffin of Goenkars by depriving them of their only or principle security, the land they own. RAJAN NARAYAN exposes the diabolical conspiracy behind the Ambedkar Aawas Yojana scheme.

THE BHARATIYA JANATA Party (BJP) is all set to drive the final nail into the coffin of the Opposition and hand over Goa to the Oriyas and the Biharis and the Kashmiris and the Kannadigas and the Tamils and the Mallus. The saffron brigade is hastening to implement its grand plan, if not to eliminate and exterminate Goans from Goa, at least to complete the process of marginalising Niz Goenkars in their own homeland.

The instrument for the de-Goanisation of Goa and consolidating the huge and growing migrant vote bank which can be bribed and bullied and intimidated into supporting the saffron brigade is the Ambedkar Aawas Yojana (AAY) scheme. Under the scheme which is claimed to be an improved version of the old 20-Point Programme, the Manohar Parrikar-led BJP government intends allotting housing plots of 100 sq. mts. each to all the bhaile and the ghantis. Land which will be taken away from Goenkars to subserve the diabolical conspiracy to build and strengthen the saffron vote bank.

COVER STORY. . . (Goan Observer, November 6-12, 2004).

Even a very cursory and superficial look at the Ambedkar Aawas Yojana, ostensibly intended to provide homes to the homeless, proves beyond the shadow of any reasonable doubt that the government's intentions are wholly malafide. That the only or at least the principle beneficiaries of the scheme will be bhailos and ghanttis.

To be eligible for the grant of 100 metres of land under the scheme the intended beneficiary should not own any house or land anywhere in the State of Goa. A clause which disqualifies the overwhelming majority of Goans if not all Goans. There are few if any Goans who do not have any land of their own or at least a share in the ancestral home. In theory of course Goans who are willing to forego their claim on the ancestral house would be eligible for grant of land under the scheme. But the Goan is more likely to disown his mother and wife rather than give up his claim to his share in the ancestral home.

GOING CHEAP
YOU DO NOT have to be Goan or even of Goan origin to avail of the benefits of the scheme. Indeed even if you are of Goan origin but have not stayed in Goa continuously for 15 years you are not eligible for the grant of land under the scheme. Anyone from any part of the country who can produce a domicile certificate claiming that he has lived in Goa continuously for 15 years can apply and secure A 100 sq. mts. of the red soil of Goa for a token amount of Rs.15,000 payable in annual instalments of Rs.1,000 each.

The scheme as sought to be implemented by the Government of Goa is not for the benefit of those living below the poverty line. The definition of those living below the poverty line is that the annual combined income of the family should not exceed Rs 12,000 per year. Going by the number of ration card holders under the BPL scheme in Goa there are not more than 20,000 people in Goa who are below the poverty line. Even out of these 20,000 people who have secured BPL ration cards which makes them eligible for purchase of food grains and other essential commodities at heavy subsidized rates the overwhelming majority are non-Goans.

According to the rules framed for the AAY scheme any Indian with a annual household income of upto Rs.50,000 is eligible to secure 100 sq. mts. of the red soil of Goa. All that the aspiring beneficiaries have to produce is their ration card, a domicile certificate and an income certificate. Since these are generally available at a price or can be manufactured and distributed like confetti by the party and politicians in power, any Indian whether he is from Orissa or Gujarat or Uttar Pradesh or Bihar will be able to not only get 100 sq. mts. but be able to build a two-storey duplex house.

DUPLEX DREAMS: One of the plans that the beneficiary can use while building his home.

The beneficiaries under the scheme can not only build a house but also run their businesses from the houses they build. The brochure being distributed alongwith the application form very solemnly declares that the plots allotted shall be used “strictly for residential purpose only.” But as in the case of every rule proclaimed by the government there is an exception. Para 8 of the brochure which defines permissible utilisation stipulates “ however with a prior approval of the government and one year after allotment 50 percent of the constructed area on the ground floor may be used for commercial activity.” So the scheme meant for housing the poor and the homeless will enable the bhailos and the ghanttis not only to grab your land but will also enable them to set up shop in your backyard.

The list of commercial activities that are to be permitted with the benediction of the political patronage of the bhailos further reinforces the conviction that the scheme is being implemented, if not exclusively, primarily for the benefit of migrants. The commercial activities that the beneficiaries can engage in as of now are vegetables stalls, fruit stalls, tea and snacks, laundry, telephone booth, stationery shop and milk booths. And presumably for the benefit of all the UP bhaiyas both within the government and the migrant population the beneficiaries can also set up paan shops. You only have to survey the vegetable and fruit stalls in the Panjim and the Margao market to realise that the scheme is intended only for the benefit of migrants. Over 80 percent of the vegetable and fruit stalls in the principle markets in the state as also the roadside stalls are owned by non Goans.

And mind you there are exceptions to enable the political patraos to oblige their favourite carpenters and plumbers and masons and security guards and Nepali cooks masquerading as Chinese cooks and drug peddlers masquerading as sellers of Kashmiri carpets. The annexure to the scheme of housing for the homeless has a note which says that the above commercial activities are not comprehensive but only indicative. That the Mamlatdar and the Collector while scrutinising the applications may permit clean commercial activities. Which presumably means that if Babush Monserrate wants to set up a workshop for making country made pistols and crude bombs in the Taleigao constituency he will be able to persuade the mamlatdar and the collector to allow the beneficiaries to engage in these activities.

BIG SHOCK
THE LARGE numbers of Gaudis and Kunbis and Velips who have been queuing up for buying copies of the form are in for a big shock. By virtue of the fact that these three communities have now been designated as scheduled tribes and their population is estimated to be 30 per cent they should be eligible for proportionate reservation in the scheme. But despite the fact that the BJP owes its victory in the recent Poinguinim bye-elections to the scheduled tribes the reservation for them is only 7.5 per cent. Ironically, the forward classes in Goa who have by political manipulations got themselves labelled backward like the Bhandaris, will have 19.5 percent of the plots reserved for them.

HOPEFULS : Illiterate applicants being helped to fill the Yojana application form.

Even if we assume for a moment that the intentions of the Parrikar government are honourable and it is genuinely interested in providing homes for the poor and the homeless the manner in which the scheme is to be implemented exposes the hidden agenda of the saffron brigade. It is not the mamlatdar who gives out and collects the forms or the Collector who scrutinises the forms who have the power to decide who will be eligible to receive the plots. The Collector's job is limited to that of being the postman. The decision on who will be allotted the plots and what kind of commercial activity will be permitted on the plots will be decided exclusively by the Government at its discretion. And everyone knows that the Government means not the bureaucracy, not the elected members of the Legislative Assembly, not even members of the Cabinet, but Manohar Parrikar and the Sangh Parivar.

As in the case of his other diabolical and devious deeds Manohar Parrikar has sought to give his new conspiracy to earn the loyalty and the allegiance of the bhaile a cloak of legality. The brochure circulated along with the application forms claims that the Rehabilitation Board would take all decisions relating to the approval of beneficiaries and the development of the plots. As in the case of various other committees including the steering committee for the IFFI the Rehabilitation Board is packed with saffronities, neo-saffronites and their collaborators. Not surprisingly the members of the rehabilitation board are Digamber Kamat, Francisco D”Souza, Pandurang Madkaikar, Babush Monserrate, Mathany Saldanha and Rajendra Arlekar, all from the BJP. The lone Congress MLA on the board is the Vasco MLA, Karl Vaz.

The most absurd aspect of the scheme is that the land for the allotment of plots has not even been identified leave alone acquired. According to the brochure issued by the Revenue Department allotments will be made on vacant plots, plots which have been acquired or to be acquired under the scheme by the Government or Government bodies. Since the only vacant plots left in Goa are communidade lands presumably the Government will yet once again loot and plunder the communidades as every successive government has been doing since liberation. Never mind that legally the Government has no right to acquire communidade land since it belongs not to the communidades but to the shareholders of the communidades. Even the elected chairman of the communidade let alone the administration has no legal right to sell any communidade land without the concurrence and the consent of the general body for the communidade concerned.

MAD RUSH: Thousands queue up to colllect forms for the AAY at the collector's office.

On the eve of the last Panchayat and the Assembly Elections Manohar Parrikar unveiled the Dayanand Bandodkar Old Age Pension Scheme as part of the BJP's campaign to strengthen its existing vote bank and create new vote banks. With just two-and-a-half years to go for the completion of the term of the Legislative Assembly Manohar Parrikar and the saffron think-tank have unveiled the AAY scheme to consolidate the saffron brigade's existing vote bank and to create new votebanks. But the game plan this time is far more insidious. It is aimed at changing the demography, particularly of minority-dominated constituencies. With the size of the electorate limited to an average of 25,000, even a thousand votes can make a major difference. If the BJP allots 100 plots with means a 1,000 votes in a minority-dominated constituency it could tilt the balance in favour of its candidate.

In the case of the Dayanand Old Age Pension Scheme an independent survey by a Sangh Parivar NGO revealed that over 30 percent of the beneficiaries were non-existent. In the case of the Dayanand Old Age Pension Scheme the amount involved per individual was only Rs.500 per month or Rs.6,000 a year. In the case of the AAY scheme the amount involved is Rs.15,000 per beneficiary. If, as in the case of the Dayanand Old Age Pension Scheme, 30 percent is siphoned off, you can image how profitable the scheme could be for the saffron brigade and its collaborators.

Whether the scheme is implemented or not the Parrikar Government is sure of making a cool Rs.2.5 crores. So far 50,000 forms have reportedly already been distributed. The aspiring beneficiary has to pay Rs.10 for the form and an additional Rs.500 on submission of the form. Which means that even if the scheme is not implemented the government collects Rs. 2.5 crores.

(With inputs from Calvert Gonsalves)

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