COPS AND SENTINELS

The ‘Traffic Sentinel’ initiative by the Goa Police has divided public opinion. While both sides, that is, those who support and those who oppose the initiative, have their reasons, most miss the forest for a few trees. Many do not seem to notice the larger issue at stake, which is, public law and order, due process, and the efficient functioning of the state. While there is no doubt that traffic violations need to be curbed, it appears that the authorities have abdicated their role in the maintenance of law and order. And yet, it should also be highlighted that the citizens cannot be expected to fulfill the duty of the state and its agents.

The ‘Traffic Sentinel’ initiative has been in operation since November 2017. According to news reports, in 2018 alone, over 700,000 challans were issued for various traffic violations. Initially, citizens who registered as sentinels reported these violations through Whatsapp and social media. The premise of the system is that these citizen-sentinels will accumulate points for reporting violations, and, having accumulated a certain number of points, will be rewarded with cash and prizes. In November 2018, the Goa Police launched a mobile app and the launch of this app, together with a hasty cabinet approval in January this year, created some controversy. The controversy erupted because these citizens-sentinels have been increasingly facing anger and even mob violence for clicking pictures or recording videos of traffic violations. While the police establishment was extremely confident about this initiative despite the mob violence, the government seems to be backtracking on its support for the initiative.

To cut to the chase, the ‘Traffic Sentinel’ initiative is a bad idea. Not because the logistics are impossible to work out, but it appears that there is no legal basis for the citizen-sentinel to exist. Take, for instance, the fact that any person reported by such a citizen-sentinel can challenge the charge in court. If so, the citizen-sentinel needs to appear in court to testify. So, it seems that the citizen-sentinel is just a witness, as in so many other situations where laws are violated. Moreover, the ‘evidence’ of the alleged violation is not absolute as it can be challenged in a court of law.

This arguably places the citizen-sentinel in a legally ambiguous space since the citizen-sentinel is not only reporting a violation but in that specific situation is also – in a way – ‘enforcing’ it. The person who reports the violation ends up in a confrontation with the alleged violator of the traffic law. What one observed in the mob violence in Vasco, for instance, was precisely the legal gray areas of the initiative, creating chaos. The citizen-sentinel is not protected by any special law as a ‘Traffic Sentinel’, and neither are the already understaffed police able to guarantee a citizen-sentinel’s safety as seen in Vasco.

While the issue of the police being understaffed is serious and may have led to the formulation of such an initiative of citizen partnership, a bigger issue that needs to be tackled is the police’s loss of authority in enforcing some of the simplest and most important laws in our society. This is not to say that authority needs to be enforced through violence, as often happens through police brutality, or by imposing hefty fines. Rather, the police establishment needs to inform the people of Goa how they will enforce just authority without harassing or abusing the citizens of Goa. The widespread prevalence of police corruption through bribes when it comes to traffic law enforcement only adds to the deficit of trust. The fact is that a police officer does not inspire trust, be it in the case of enforcing just authority or upholding the rule of law.

It takes two to tango, as they say. Just as the state needs to enforce laws in an unbiased manner, the citizens too need to obey laws to promote a healthy society. One could argue that the reason so many citizens registered for the ‘Traffic Sentinel’ initiative was because they wanted to bring change. However, in the context of traffic violations, it seems that the inability of the state in enforcing these laws is only matched by the disregard that citizens have for some of the simplest and basic laws. For instance, traffic laws ensure an orderly flow of vehicles and pedestrians and minimize the risk of life and limb. It appears that people in Goa are more concerned about the small fines than their lives (and the lives of their loved ones and fellow citizens). For what else can explain the utter disregard for basic norms of safety and, not to mention, the prevalence of rash and negligent driving, when so many lose their lives in traffic accidents every day? To an extent, even those who are ‘Traffic Sentinels’ are part of a culture that does not privilege the safety of all.

In other words, the issues before us are the role of the police as a law-enforcing authority and the role of the citizens as a law-abiding entity. While both have an important part to play, it is important to recognize that the state and the citizens need to promote due process and the rule of law in the long term. The ‘Traffic Sentinel’ initiative appears to be a shortcut – the police fine violators to show the numbers on paper, while in reality everyone does as they please. The solution lies not in allowing people to take the law in their own hands but in following due process and the rule of law. Responsible behavior by citizens and the efficient, accountable functioning of state bodies can make a difference.

(First published in O Heraldo, dt: 6 February, 2019)

PAST AND PRESENT FOR 2019

Our political condition becomes worse with each passing year. The nature of public debate (rather the absence of it), the deteriorating condition of public infrastructure, and unscrupulous bids have plunged Goa into chaos. Thus, taking stock of the bygone year, or reflecting on the past on any anniversaries (such as the recently concluded 57th Liberation Day of Goa), appears to be an exercise in futility. However, can we really afford to ignore the past? If we do, we run the risk of subjecting ourselves to the same political manipulations of the past. It is only by considering the past errors that we are able to avoid blunders in the present and future. However, making sense of our present in relation to the past (thereby charting a vision for the future) is not as easy as it seems.

Tourism and mining are the two main industries of Goa today and the government’s policies regarding the regulation and development of these industries is a major concern for the future. These two industries in Goa share a similar history in terms of their origins in the economic policies of the Portuguese state. A large number of Goans depend on mining and tourism – more on tourism than mining today – and these two industries place heavy demands on resources like land and water, not to mention the human resource. The Justice Shah Commission reported huge illegalities in the mining sector, which means that the Goan hinterlands and forests have been hollowed out. Just a few days ago, the Union Cabinet has approved new regulations for Coastal Regulatory Zones, in an attempt to promote eco-tourism and development on the coast. It is a chilling reminder of what is in store for us as resource-extractive and culture-destroying economic activities have continued for over half a century, and the government today further seeks to promote this destruction. 

When the erstwhile Portuguese state gifted mining leases in perpetuity to private capitalists or industrialists, the Goan economy was experiencing economic stagnation. The increasing calls for decolonization in the 1950s had also put the Portuguese state under severe pressure to demonstrate that the Goan economy was fit and fine. In this, they conveniently gained the support of local industrialists and capitalists. The tourism industry, too, has its origins in the economic policies of the Portuguese state. However, the present tourism industry in Goa begins with the Indian government trying to boost the national economy either by exploiting Goa’s beautiful locales for leisure activities or by introducing exploitative and unsafe activities for the sake of earning foreign exchange. Goa was the main target due to its Portuguese- and Catholic-inflected culture. Goans were convinced by the central and local state authorities that large resorts (and golf courses) would bring in jobs, stopping the out-migration of Goan youth. In the last two or three decades, successive governments have used the rhetoric of preference-for-Goans in employment to promote the interests of large businesses.

Considering this long history, it is obvious that the economic policies of various states and governments have progressively promoted economic development dependent on large infrastructure and heavy industries. This has exerted immense pressure on the land and the people living in it. In recent decades, with an increasing imposition of neo-liberal economic policies – even by chest-thumping nationalists – we observe that there is an increasing migration into and out of Goa. In fact, migration in and out of Goa is related to the same economic and political processes that created industries like mining and tourism. With agricultural productivity declining from the late nineteenth century, Goa witnessed an outmigration to British-ruled cities like Bombay, Karachi, and Dar-es-Salaam. The out-migration continues, except to different locations; and the difference between the in-migration then and now is that, in our time, large numbers are migrating into Goa, who also face exploitation within the tourism and mining industries.

So, a long view of Goan economic history shows that we are heading for increased destruction of land and other resources and increased migration into and out of Goa all in the name of development, employment, and boosting the state’s and nation’s economy. But this is not the future that we want. Every contestant and each political party during elections give us a vision that further promotes this long process of destruction rather than suggesting ways to halt it. Repeatedly, we fall for such a vision not just because it comes with the promise of jobs and prosperity, but also because it seems that no other vision is realistic.

The results of the recently concluded state legislative elections in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Telangana, and Mizoram suggest that there is possibility of change in the future. Indian citizens are desperate for any positive change after the misrule of the BJP for the last five years. Would a change in power roll back all the bad policy decisions and destruction of the environment? Arguably not. The nexus of capital, big industries, and political parties runs deep in all national parties. This is important, as a shift in power at the center or state would not mean that land-grabbing, water-polluting, and generally destructive development would end. Therefore, we need to think out of the box, and force those who wish to represent us to do the same. Our would-be representatives need to tell us specifically how they will get Goa to step away from the current path of destruction; how we can break the pattern of Goa’s economic history for the last 100 years. 

(First published in O Heraldo, dt: 2 January, 2019)

FISHING IN TROUBLED WATERS: MARKETS AND LABOURERS

Six months after the shocking revelation came to light that fish imported into Goa is preserved in the carcinogenic formalin, the issue is nowhere close to a solution. Recently, health minister Vishwajit Rane announced that the ban on imports will be in place for six months, except for those traders who comply with health and quality regulations. This apparently unstoppable poisoning (or adulteration) not only brings the governmental authorities under the scanner for being unable to stop such malpractices, but also highlights the manner in which the fishing industry operates in most parts of coastal India. It is important to discuss the labor practices and potential policy decisions that would address allied issues, including the issue of formalin.

It appears that all the coastal regions of peninsular India are linked in the manner in which the fishing industry operates. All the states in peninsular India are export-oriented: the best catch goes to the metropolitan markets of Bombay and Delhi. The labor for most of the mechanized fishing on the west coast, such as that in Goa and Maharashtra, comes from the east coast: from Andhra Pradesh and Odisha, as well as Bihar. The first reports of tainted fish were discovered in Kerala, linked to fish imported from Andhra Pradesh. Hence it is not surprising that the issue in one place has snowballed into a crisis for other regions. Soon after formalin-laced fish was detected in Kerala, other states, including Goa, Assam, and Meghalaya were on alert. Short periods of import bans, coupled with damage-control exercises by the fish traders associations of Andhra Pradesh, were followed by normalization of business.

But the issue did not die; at least not in Goa with illegalities coming to light every other week since June 2018. Last month, fish traders from the neighboring district of Sindhudurg in Maharashtra were up in arms alleging that local politics in Goa was impeding their exports, and they were facing harassment at the Goan border despite following all the rules and regulations of the Goa Government. Karnataka is also threatening to halt mutual exports and imports from and to Goa if fish from its coastal regions is not allowed to be imported into Goa. The peninsular states seem to be dependent on each other for labor and export markets.

The mechanized and labor intensive nature of the industry, largely through trawl and purse seine fishing, requires that a large chunk of the fish be exported. The economics of the fishing industry suggests that local production for local consumption, or self-sufficiency, is not possible – not in Goa or anywhere else in peninsular India. The quantity of industrially-produced fish is either too much for local consumption, or certain types of fish are not part of local diets. Hence, despite banning imports from other states, Goa’s fishing industry depends on exports. This is the reason why Karnataka and Maharashtra get affected with a fish import ban in Goa. This is also why calls for banning export of Goan fish or threats to stop exports completely cause considerable worry to Goan fish traders.

Apart from the macroeconomic setup, most of the fishing industry is sustained by, as mentioned earlier, poor migrant labor who are mostly men away from their families and who work in extremely difficult and unhygienic conditions. They do not have benefits like health insurance and are informally contracted to work, without much options in case of conflicts with their employers. After the catch is brought ashore, it is transported to various destinations near and far. The drivers and the laborers are the ones who have to deal with the police checkpoints and the ire of the locals if any illegalities, such as in the formalin case, are detected.

Next are the distribution networks through the wholesale and local markets, including door-to-door delivery. In Goa, these wholesale and local markets, in addition to providing employment to local men and women, also once again employ a lot of poor migrant labor. Unregulated markets, along with cheaper imported fish means that local fish vendors inside the markets have to compete with those, generally migrant, vendors outside creating its own set of problems due to an export-oriented industry. We see hundreds of women in local markets and along the roads who sell fish throughout the day whether it rains or the scorching sun beat down on them. In every town and village there is an absence of proper market infrastructure. Add to this is the uncertainty of earning one’s daily wages when the government is unable to regulate illegalities in the industry, and when the big bosses of the industry are not committed to providing proper working conditions to those that service the fishing industry. This is similar to what happens in other profit-driven, high volume industries like real estate: the labor of the poor is appropriated while the laborer is dispensed with. Who will fix all of this and not just the poisoned fish that we are forced to consume?

What is happening with the formalin issue is not just a tragedy for those who are economically dependent on the fish industry, along with those who consume fish daily, but also an environmental disaster in the making. Much of the trawl and purse seine fishing, in addition to the destruction of marine ecology by the mining and tourism industry, is depleting the stocks of fish at alarming rates. This is the right time to integrate worker rights and environmental concerns with debates over our health so that future governmental policies and regulations will be drafted with an eye not only on people’s health and worker rights, but also to safeguard the environment.

(First published in O Heraldo, dt: 5 December, 2018)