The buck starts here

Indian sportsmen led by cricket’s supreme body, BCCI, have pledged proceeds from special charity contests, like the twin games between Rest of World XI and Asian XI. The Mumbai film industry is willing to sing, dance and shoot for the purpose. Big industrialists have already donated huge cheques, and many of their employees have pledged monthly salaries in whole or in part. People have volunteered with medical and rehabilitation assistance, even adopting entire villages. Clearly, modern India has acknowledged its humanist responsibility.

Come and Go-a

I fail to understand why successive governments have ignored Goa’s potential to emerge as region’s biggest tourist crowd puller. The paradise state has enormous potential to shine as one of the foremost exotic destinations. Goa offers a raw charm.

Aside from the scenic beauty, Goa has that unmistakable indolent air about it that so intuitive draws the weary vacationer to its laid-back charms. Perhaps this explains why scores of Europeans have bought houses and come to stay for months on end in Goa, a rare feat for any coastal city in the region.

So good, and yet so raw. Imagine what might just happen to Goa given the right nurture by government and other agencies. The keyword here is right. Now this experience gets marred literally at the doorstep of Goa, where this year alone the tiny airport proved grossly incapable of handling the influx of tourist airplanes. 400 of private jets were refused permission to land, because the airport ran out of parking space. The jets in turn didn’t waste time hovering over the Goan sunlit beaches and instead chose to reward similar locations in neighboring countries.

Those who did manage to finally land found the going on roads difficult. Bad traffic combined with narrow roads make a journey painful, if not downright avoidable. A few flyovers and bridges over shallow waters to ease out road traffic might be helpful. Finally, the hotels are there, but I don’t know whether it is private sector which is acting tightfisted or it’s some government policy, but there are just not many water sports facilities to draw tourists. Private sector may actually have its hands tied down here, for it was indeed a judicial official, who was reportedly so horrified by the display of an adventurous sport like water-skiing while strolling on the beach and went on to ban it in the name of tourist safety! It was only after strong pleading and repeated representations that the ban was lifted! Let’s take Goa as pilot project to unleash the true tourism potential of India. The Film Festival is already there, let’s make Goa the permanent venue for it. Let’s have more tourist events. Perhaps an international water sports contest, or even an exotic feni festival.

The right choice

Late J N Dixit had many wonderful things to his credit in his role as India’s National Security Advisor. It is sad that while he wanted to make his PM proud, he could not see his mission to a finish. Now the demanding mantle of NSA has rested temporarily on M.K. Narayanan, an able gentleman who so far served as special advisor to PM. Perhaps what made the choice easy was the overlap between the two’s jobs; even before Dixit’s demise, Narayanan chipped in with support to Dixit by handling intelligence inputs and coordinating with the security forces in the PMO, working eighteen hours a day.

It would be better if the two jobs are clubbed together under Narayanan’s charge. He has shown many glimpses of his abilities as early as under Rajiv Gandhi’s premiership, when he handled the most sensitive issues concerning Indian national security, as Director of Intelligence Bureau. As far as external policy is concerned, diplomats like Sati Lambah can be pressed into service, who shares a great equation with Narayanan.

The writer is a Rajya Sabha MP. Write to him at shuklarajeev@gmail.com