Think of a man who is running his family profession like a carpenter, barber or fisherman. With his earnings he cannot provide a quality lifestyle to his family. The family just manages to survive through life day after day. From this point the man can make one of several choices.
1. Take a begging bowl and ask for money from whoever is willing to give.
2. Relax and blame his own fate for being in this situation and hope for a better life next time.
3. Take initiative and give his business a push.

If we equate Goa to the man in the above analogy, the Goa government took the third route in 2004 when the then CM Manohar Parrikar pitched for making Goa the permanent venue for IFFI with the intention of promoting Goa as an entertainment hub and in the process powering the tourism industry. It sounded like an impossible feat to get the entire infrastructure in place in an extremely short timespan of six months, but the hard work put in by the state officials made it happen making a powerful statement of the government’s efficiency. It gave us the opportunity to develop the infrastructure we lack. The funds received from the center were not all used for a theatre. Our roads got a facelift. The city was beautified. Projects such as four laning, Patto bridge, upgradation of Kala Academy, city lighting that were pending for several years got completed using funds from the center. This infrastructure is needed for the state regardless of whether or not there is a film festival.

Goa does not have as big a share in the field of cinema as it does in other art forms like Tiatr or Indian classical music. If the intention of organizing an event is to promote tourism on the international scene, the event should be related to a cultural aspect that is common to most countries and cinema is one such.

The idea of having the film festival in one place year after year and the place being Goa was conceived by Satyajit Ray, Shyam Benegal and Girish Karnad about 25 years before Goa hosted IFFI but nobody acted on it. In the words of Shyam Benegal "Goa is ideal for two reasons. Although it is not a centre for film it is a centre for tourism. A film festival is a festival where people come to do business in films, to enjoy films and also to enjoy the environment of the place. Goa has everything. A relaxed atmosphere, it’s a perfect holiday destination and eventually interest in films will also increase". The movies normally chosen are not the usual violence-spiced ones but a representation of world cinema.

Think of why across the world countries compete for organizing the Olympics. The fame the country gets is only one reason. More importantly, it is a great revenue earner. The objective behind organizing a film festival is no different. The idea is to become popular internationally not by word of mouth but by being part of international headlines. The difference is that the results become visible only after a few years. The state need not lose its prized identity in the process of hosting a film festival. The world’s most popular film festivals held in Cannes, Venice and Berlin have not damaged the identities of these cities.

Why was there the urgency to have IFFI in 2004? 2004 was the year of parliamentary elections. The Central government at that time was favourable for making Goa the permanent venue. If there was change in power at the center, Goa would have lost the opportunity for ever. Change in power eventually did happen, but Goa did become the permanent venue after putting up an excellent performance.

Goans had not witnessed an event of this magnitude since CHOGM. The spending on infrastructure was understandably huge to raise eyebrows. When a shopkeeper spends on the interior design of his shop, he is actually investing in his business and not wasting his money. The spending was supposed to be for just the first time. The Congress criticized the spending when they were not in power, but ironically borrowed an equal amount [Need to quote the amount] when they came to power. Nobody knows what the money was spent for when the infrastructure had been set up already the previous year. In the first year IFFI, being an event related to glamour, remained in the headlines of the print media. This might have caused an average citizen to think that the government is only working towards IFFI and nothing else. [Need to include the list of projects government was executing in parallel during IFFI].

Other than the first year, all subsequent events have not lived up to expectations. When a major event is organized by any state government, it is imperative that the state’s politicians pay personal attention to the details as the state’s reputation is at stake.

Every piece of work undertaken by the government has to pass through several procedures. Approvals have to be obtained from several officials and a defined workflow has to be followed. For constructing a simple a road, the PWD would issue tenders, invite quotations, go through a series of screenings, before awarding the contract. Beyond that government officials are involved in every step of the construction at every level. If there is a delay at any point in the chain, intentional or otherwise, the project suffers. However, when the target date is fixed and the state’s reputation is at stake, it is important for politicians to step in to cut down on the number of links in the bureaucratic chain so that each task gets completed as scheduled. Criticizing the government for bypassing regular procedures for a time-critical project is not justified.

Welfare of residing citizens is always of prime importance when compared to promoting tourism. But for that the state has to be financially strong. We need a sustainable source of income. The state has a gift of natural beauty which gives us an opportunity to earn revenue from the tourism industry. It is this opportunity that the government tried to tap by choosing to be the permanent venue for IFFI.