MONDAY, MAY 20, 2024
Political parties exude confidence
With the electoral process in the State for the two Lok Sabha having been completed, the die has been cast. The results will be known only on June 4. However the confidence exuded by the various candidates (with the exception of independent candidates) and political parties of winning the elections by a huge margin, which could even be more than one lakh votes, is something to be noted.
Supporters of a particular party reportedly burst crackers in Mapusa in anticipation of a victory. If only politicians who are elected show the same level of confidence in delivering the goods and keeping the promises made in the days leading to the polls.
Interestingly confidence means feeling sure of oneself and one’s abilities which need not be in an arrogant way, but in a realistic, secure way. Confidence isn't about feeling superior to others. It's a quiet inner knowledge of one’s capability. Self-esteem, which is strongly linked to confidence, shows how people perceive their own value.
After elections citizens reciprocally need to have confidence in those they have elected. Political trust, generally defined as citizens' confidence in political institutions, is an important indicator of political legitimacy. A large voter turnout in a constituency is looked upon as a wave towards a particular party. Incidentally Vasco has the least voting percentage of 67.1 followed by Panjim of 67.26. What inference should one draw from this?
Adelmo Fernandes, Vasco
Inferior quality of work at govt quarters
The low and inferior quality of works in Government Quarters allotted to the employees need to be cross checked and verified by the higher authority. In most of the cases where the residential pool allotted to the employees are surrounded with many issues like sub-standardized works, pathetic condition and other things. Though HRA and License fee are deducted from the allottees. Staff quarters must generally be well maintained and one wonders whether the higher officials have checked the situations and conditions of Govt Qrtrs like Patto, Bhatlem, etc. Due to poor and inferior quality of works by the contractors, the government incurs substantial revenue losses.
The decade gone by has witnessed sustained growth in economic prosperity on account of increase in income after the implementation of 7th Pay Commission. The government should make officials of Public Works Department (PWD) accountable for poor quality of works and maintenance of government accommodations and buildings and the same must be recovered from the concerned official’s salary.
The issues such as poor quality works and workmanship, inspections and liabilities of senior officers, engineers, fixing of responsibilities etc, is completely missing in action.
K G Vilop, Chorao
Gold rush is a clever scam
Like every year, people in large numbers will be flocking the jewellery marts on the Akshya Thrithiya day on May 10 with a superstitious notion that buying gold on this auspicious day will bring them unending prosperity.
But, this is the biggest marketing gimmick ever and a perfect example of how these jewellery shops woo the customers and take advantage of their sentiments and indoctrinate them towards buying the yellow metal on this day.
This gold rush is nothing more than a clever scam concocted by corporations to drive big sales on this day. Let’s not, therefore, fall prey to the deceptive selling of these big jewellery merchandisers and earn big bucks from our collective ignorance.
As Swami Vivekananda once said: “To believe blindly is to degenerate the human soul. Be an atheist if you want, but do not believe in anything unquestioningly.”
Ranganathan Sivakumar, Chennai
Juvenile crimes on the rise
Technological advancement should be put to prudent use to tackle the ever increasing juvenile crimes across the globe. Additionally, one cannot emphasise enough on international cooperation to combat transnational juvenile crimes. Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, in the course of his address at a symposium in Nepal, highlighted the three causes of juvenile delinquency: economic disparity, poverty and domestic violence.
Lack of parental guidance and peer pressure are documented offshoots for juveniles to go astray. The all--important family buffer system has, with the father--mother duo coaxing and cajoling potential delinquents to walk along the right path, unfortunately become diluted thanks to domestic instabilities.
Deprivation of a proper childhood, and the consequent physical and mental abuse, are known factors that lead to juvenile crimes worldwide, India not excluded. Child marriages and child labour are causes and consequences juvenile crimes.
A fragile criminal justice system, and unplugged loopholes in justice dispensation, has emboldened youngsters to run amok.
Besides, today's education has miserably failed to tune young mindsets with sanity and decency. Many teachers are hardly the inspirations young minds hope to emulate. As Justice Chandrachud told the galaxy of legal luminaries at Kathamndu, a “holistic” approach based on deprivation and poverty is needed to curb juvenile delinquency.
Ganapathi Bhat, Akola
