Karnataka   

‘Goa needs people’s economic zones’

PANAJI: Participants at the workshop, “After SEZ – what next?”, held here recently were unanimous in their view that what development models articulated for the rest of the country could not be blindly made applicable to Goa, owing to the small size of the State and the existing manner of resource use.

The day-long workshop had participation of several socio-economic and activist groups and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) which backed the recent successful agitation against Special Economic Zones (SEZs) in the State.

The workshop came to the conclusion that the State needed people’s economic zones that entailed “planned bottom-up development”, which would take into account the needs and concerns of various sections of society, particularly the most marginalised, through democratic consultative processes.

The traditional local systems of governance such as Communidades and village panchayats were critiqued by the participants even as they were supported for their unique features at the workshop organised by “SEZ Watch in Goa”, a local NGO.

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