Migration is inevitable as people migrate in search of living from one place to another and migration completely depends upon the demand, and it keeps increasing with the demand. Today Goa is facing a similar situation wherein people from various states migrating to Goa for various reasons. Some come here in search of employment while others come here and set up businesses and employ the locals in it. Some come here for vacation while others set up their second home. Goa’s original population of 1.5 million has gone up to nearly 2.5 million due to massive migration and if it keeps going soon the migrants will outnumber the local Goans, stated in the Government Report.
The prediction made in the First Post’s 2013 edition is almost on the verge of coming true. Goa is virtually standing on the brink of “ethnic dilution” as unrestricted migration from other states is threatening to reduce the native population to an “alienated microscopic minority” by 2021, according to an assessment by the state government.
“Unrestricted migration and whole-scale transfer of land are beginning to submerge the unique Goan identity. Though we have been noticing this trend in the last decade or so, it has now assumed menacing proportions. The apprehension is that by 2021 the migrant population will outnumber local Goans”.
Who is Responsible for this Rampant Migration
Technically all of us. The Goans began making money on their land, the value of which started shooting the prices in the last decades. They sold their lands to the rich builders coming down from Delhi, Mumbai, and Pune who in turn built huge complexes, expensive townships, and offices that were not in the reach of locals and hence the investors from the other states started investing in the second home in Goa.
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The construction of townships clubbed with the infrastructure development created a huge demand for the labourers, technical workers, and other relevant businesses which in turn opened the doors to the people from other states to enter in Goa in a search of better opportunities.
The second thing is the migration of Goans to the UK, UAE and other countries in a search for better employment created the Vaccum which was needed to be filled and that again led to mass migration. There were hundreds of thousands of Goans have migrated to other countries with the help of Portuguese passports making Goa almost vulnerable to mass migration.
Can we stop the Migration?
No, it is not possible to stop or reverse the migration since it is a universal phenomenon, just like from Goa migrates to the other states and countries the gap is later on filled up by people from other states and the process keeps going on.
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Today migrants have set up major businesses in Goa and there are many migrants have their feet rooted in the political arena also. The former CM of Goa Late Shri Manohar Parrikar had led the all-party delegation which met the then Prime Minister of India Manmohan Singh Delhi in 2013. The agenda was the gradual influx of migrants in Goa who were settling down in the coastal state, a hot tourist destination.
The Parrikar led delegation also demanded the special status empowering the local government to enact laws restricting the sale of land to non-goans. “The apprehension is that Goans will become an alienated microscopic minority within their own State,” reads the petition that has taken the stock of the migration trend right from the liberation of Goa from Portuguese rulers in 1961.
The Present Scenario
Konkani is the official language of Goa but today only 51 per cent people speak Konkani whereas the collective proportion of Konkani and Marathi-speaking people is two-thirds of the total population, which means one-third of the population is of migrant settlers, the state policy-makers said quoting the latest Census data.
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Goa is the smallest state by area and the fourth smallest by population spread over two districts. Located in West India in the region known as the Konkan, it is bounded by the state of Maharashtra to the north, and by Karnataka to the east and south, while the Arabian Sea forms its western coast.
According to the reports the migration began from the time Portuguese left Goa and it kept rising with the time. The data confirm that migration is diluting the ethnic character of Goa. In the first decade after liberation, the growth of population was 34.77 per cent. This trend of migration is contributing to population growth even today. The latest growth of population for the last decade is 8.17 per cent,” reported the sources.
Currently, Goa is on the verge of ethnic dilution with the population of Goans getting to minority and the new NRC will lead to affect the nationality of around 4 lakh Goans who supposedly have taken the Portuguese nationality with the help of Portuguese passport. The issue of Migrants in Goa is highly controversial as there are many NGOs and Social groups raising their voice against the migrants in Goa, but the question is whether Goa’s economy can sustain without the migrants? Please share your views on this story.
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Goa is virtually standing on the brink of “ethnic dilution” as unrestricted migration from other states is threatening to reduce the native population to an “alienated microscopic minority” by 2021, according to an assessment by the state government.
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