Thank you for this insightful article about the ugly underbelly of tourism and second homes in prime tourist destinations (“The expensive fantasy of Goa displaces Goans and runs on cheap migrant labour”). I have seen or heard of these same terrible wealth disparities in Cancun, Mexico, and in Abu Dhabi. Most visitors seem to be blind to the service workers who scrape by on minimal wages.
Workers need better pay, but we tourists in the meantime could at least tip more handsomely, share what we can from our excess possessions and treat service workers as human with dignity. We should remember that service-workers struggle so that we invaders can relax and enjoy the climate.
I wish I had something to say about the fatcats who price locals out of their own neighborhoods. It is disgraceful. I have always dreamt of Goa, near the sea, smelling of spices and salt air. I hope things improve for the workers who make it a paradise. – Isa Bernardy
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This is a good and timely write-up. I hope this article is read by the Goan and Indian governments and brings about a change in the lives of migrant labourers and local residents. This situation is the same in all the major tourist attractions in India. This should change. – Kasinathan N
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I completely agree. Panjim is full of people from Delhi and Mumbai and is overcrowded due to pollution and too many. We have been ruined by greed. – Maureen Starr
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Thank you. I am grateful to the author for capturing the real pain of Goa with a systematic, logical and rational mindset. – Esther Torres
Taxes for better healthcare
The problem is the lack of state spending on healthcare, especially its preventive, curative, rehabilitative and palliative aspects, as well as medical education (“Readers’ comments: Unfair to target doctors. Many immigrate due to poor pay, VIP culture”). This is creating infrastructure shortfalls and increasing the corporatisation of healthcare. People are also willing to spend on everything except healthcare while expecting doctors to work for free. Also, there is zero need to blindly demand western norms when we don’t meet these standards even for the air we breathe or the water we drink.
Healthcare can be funded imaginatively through direct and indirect taxes: a 1%-2 % healthcare tax on every expense, a heavy tax on tobacco products can be levied on the products and on the turnover, and a special tax on the income of everyone earning from the tobacco industry. These funds can be used to set up hospitals and clinics and pay doctors on par with bureaucrats, or even more. People also need to understand that doctors have the same expenses as others. – Satyajit Manakkadan
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This is an excellent comparative analysis. The very crux is nothing but preventive and dedicated healthcare which is the need of the hour for all Indians. Unfortunately, doctors have been targeted and not the system at fault. It is the system that makes doctors and not vice versa. The author says he is a peace activist. Please see to it then how the doctors can be protected from attacks, hooliganism and molestation. That too is a part of the system and needs to be addressed. The article is encouraging, but there are many intricacies in planning the Indian healthcare system. Since school age, such talents should be nurtured, untouched by political considerations. – Dr Bharat Kotkar
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