FRIDAY, APRIL 19, 2024
In support of the farmer's agitation
The farmer's agitation has brought once again to the fore the distress that they perceive with the agriculture policy. On the one hand we call farmers the backbone of the nation without whom there is no food reaching our mouths but on the other hand we do not look into their issues.
We do not even discuss with them in advance the agriculture pricing policy and other matters to understand their problems. We go ahead announce a policy and then ram it down their throats, saying - We know this is good for you. If one has seen how farmers give their cattle medicine poured through a hollow stick mostly bamboo that is jammed into the animal's mouth, then one would understand the present government's policy approach to get acceptance. Not only that the government on its own politicizes the farmer's agitation by saying that pro-Khalistani forces have been seen among the protestors. If these people are also farmers,they are entitled to be part of the protest.
The government's intention to bring the 'foreign hand' into the farmer's protest is to deflect attention since they lack the guts to face the issue frontally. The same thing was done during the CAA protests in Delhi where the 'foreign hand' was seen as that of Pakistan and in Assam that of the separatists and terrorists. Thus one can say that our government does not face any issue fairly and squarely but looks to wriggle out of situations which are of their own making.
Like in the farmer's agitation case, a couple of months back the government called them for a discussion but the Minister of Agriculture did not join the meeting and the farmers rightly boycotted the meeting citing the lack of seriousness on the government's part. Offer for conditional talks have once again been made and one has to see if the government participates in them with due diligence. The farmers have been asked to move to the protest site at Burari and to vacate Delhi roads citing public inconvenience if talks are to held which they have refused since then the effectiveness of the protest will fizzle out.
If the Delhi public are being inconvenienced then it is because of the intransigence and insensitivity of the government to the farmer's plight and being deaf to their problems. It is the government which has to change.
Srinivas Kamat, Alto St Cruz
Sec 144 to quell public protests?
The Government has imposed Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code in South Goa which bars assembly of five or more persons at a place. It is no secret that Section 144 has been invoked to quell escalating public protests against those controversial projects. Restricting people’s movement has a direct consequence on the fundamental rights of the public.
Earlier this year after this Section was being repeatedly imposed in various States the Supreme Court came down heavily on the authorities while ruling that Section 144 which imposes restrictions on citizens' fundamental right to assemble peacefully, cannot be invoked as a tool to prevent the legitimate expression of opinion or grievance or exercise of any democratic rights.
The Court ruled that the power under Section 144, being remedial as well as preventive, is exercisable when there is an apprehension of danger, but that the danger contemplated should be in the nature of an emergency.
Stating that while exercising this power, the magistrate is duty bound to balance the rights and restrictions based on the principles of proportionality and thereafter apply the least intrusive measure, the Supreme Court held that repetitive orders under Section 144 amounts to abuse of power. The Court also held that where fundamental rights of the citizens are being curtailed, the same cannot be done through an arbitrary exercise of power but must be based on objective facts.
Aires Rodrigues, Ribandar
Nip the drug menace in the bud
It is learnt that Goa police seized drugs worth over Rs 36 lakh from four different places in Pernem taluka and arrested four people, including an Australian. It may be recalled that last week Pernem police seized cannabis plants, ganja and charas worth 20 lakh from Korgao, Pernem and had arrested two accused in the case. In the past two months six raids on cannabis plantations have been conducted at Pernem. It must be said that the narcotics trade going on in Goa is tarnishing the image of the state.
Pernem appears to be the epicenter of the drug trade as well as growing cannabis plants in the state. The Goa police needs to keep a data record of those foreigners who have been arrested for possessing drugs in the past and refrain them from entering the country again. We need to separate the drug peddlers from genuine foreign tourists. Goa needs to be made a drug-free state. The police need to get to the root cause of the drug trade in the state by going after the main source of drug supply.
Unless the drug menace is not nipped in the bud, Goa will have to face a monstrous task of cleaning up the state from the drug trade.
Adelmo Fernandes, Vasco
Corporate Social responsibility
Though physical classes have partially resumed for students of class 10th and 12th but public bus services connecting far flung areas in the hinterlands like Dabal, Nirankal, Pale etc. to good education centres are yet to begin.
Lack of dependable schools in Pale and surrounding areas force residents to send their wards to Ponda or Sakhali which are almost 15 km away. Similar is the case in Netravali, Canacona where many bus operators have halted services due to their not finding the routes financially viable, also people prefer using personal vehicles for commuting. It's a classic Catch 22 situation with passengers being stranded across Pale, Ponda, Priol, Netravali etc. Mining companies had previously operated bus services in some of these regions and now that ore transportation activities have resumed they may be nudged by the government to restart these routes as a part of their Corporate Social Responsibility. What better way for mining behemoths to give back to society and the communities they operate in than re-enabling education and livelihoods.
Vinay Dwivedi, Benaulim
Capped borewells
GSPCB has capped around 10 borewells in the Cuncolim Industrial Estate as effluent has been discharged into the same. Activists are demanding ‘pay for polluting’. How much will they be made to pay? All surface water including house wells and the Mandovi are polluted and not safe. Can they be purified now?
So far only the groundwater was unpolluted as one had to sink costly borewells to get to the same. This groundwater has now been polluted: can you purify the entire table? No, you now need to treat the water drawn from the same at a cost. Are the rogue factories going to pay for all such treatment? This act is like venting out the air from Covid patient rooms into the Doctors’ chambers! It is a criminal act.
Borewells are sunk to draw water. Were pumps installed in the same? If not, then the well was sunk with the express criminal intention to discharge untreated effluent. The culprits will now say the same was sunk for rain water harvesting-no pump required here. In fact, the rain water harvesting of directing surface water directly into the aquifers is totally wrong. Just to stop water running off to the sea, we are collecting the same but polluting the entire ground water table. The natural process of filtration by soil is bypassed. Ground water table must not be used for rain water harvesting by all and sundry.
R Fernandes, Margao
