FRIDAY, APRIL 26, 2024
Govt displaying sheer arrogance
With the COVID-19 cases in Goa escalating by the day, the government is displaying its sheer and reckless arrogance by having decided to go ahead with the SSC exams while putting the lives of our young children at risk.
The authorities should have evolved a way out in dealing with this issue. Even if a scholastic year was lost it would be better instead of putting in peril the well- being of our young beacons of hope.
These are turbulent times demanding high levels of caution and watchfulness. Having failed on so many occasions in handling various issues during this lockdown, the authorities would be solely responsible for the consequences if any on account of its short-sightedness in holding these exams during this raging pandemic.
The government needs to chart its way forward guardedly in battling this deadly virus as on account of any skewed approach we may end up setting more COVID-19 hospitals in the State.
Don’t our young students deserve Justice, protection and compassion in a civilized society? This will weigh on our consciences forever.
Aires Rodrigues, Ribandar
Goans need to introspect
The slogan "Goem, Goemkar, Goemkarponn" was reassuring for some time. Not anymore. Thousands of migrants possess second voter’s card in Goa besides other cards. Who helped them - Goans. Some migrants have changed their names to Goan names. Who allowed this to happen - Goans. From masons to carpenters, plumbers to barbers, all are migrants. Who gave up their traditional occupation and brought on this situation - Goans.
Migrants are still defecating in the open. What a shame, name wise and health wise. Who rented out their outhouses and shanties without toilets to them - Goans. In spite of Belgaum and Kolhapur being red zones, Goans still depend on these places for vegetables. Who gave up growing vegetables in the fields - Goans. In many places in Goa, outsiders have more shops than Goans. Who sold or leased out their business to them - Goans. Outsiders have bought scores of villas, properties and Goan houses. Who sold their properties to them - Goans. So people are not wrong when they refer to our small State as Goa, Going, Gone.
Goans need to introspect, correct course and save whatever good is left of our Golden Goa.
Rodney de Souza, Assagao
Being self-reliant in vegetables, fruits
The lockdown enforced to stop the spread of the coronavirus has taught us one important lesson of that being self-reliant in our daily requirements. One way of going about is to grow our own vegetables in the kitchen garden. This can be a small step towards a sustainable Goa.
It is understood that the Goa State Biodiversity Board (GSBB) has planned to distribute free saplings of local varieties, fruit-bearing trees, etc. Seeds of vegetables and fruits are also available for sale with the government along with garden-tools, manure, vermi-compost, except chemical fertilizers and pesticides. Open space on the terrace could be converted to a vegetable garden. Home grown vegetables can be nutritious and very safe as it does not contain pesticides. However people with a green thumb may not possess land or space to grow their own vegetables.
It is pertinent to note there is a lot of open space owned by the municipal bodies and panchayats in the state. This land could be rented out to citizens who are interested to take up growing vegetables in a big way. The Chicalim garden at Vasco, for example, has become a barren land. This land could be leased out to citizens who are interested to grow vegetables but do not possess any land. This will also improve the greenery of the location.
Adelmo Fernandes, Vasco
Relief measures for migrants
Following the disappointment of the first tranche of relief measures, the Centre's efforts to reach out to migrants with free ration must come as a saving grace.
The government will provide free foodgrains to about eight crore migrant workers who do not have ration cards and subsequently make the document portable to enable them to buy food grains anywhere in the country. But these measures must be implemented on a war-footing to make them credible.
The government also promised to launch a Rs 5,000 crore unique credit facility for street vendors, badly hit by the COVID-19 outbreak. The second tranche of relief measures could ease the travails of the more underprivileged sections of society to some extent but more needs to be done.
N J Ravi Chander, Bengaluru
Of decisions and damages
It is a well known fact of life that in every field of organized community there is a person in charge of the organization who is responsible for the management of the team, group or the society. This person has the power to take decisions with or without consulting his sub-ordinates or other members of his team. With power comes the responsibility for the decisions taken by him/her. A well thought out decision leads to good results while a rash one may lead to disaster with insurmountable damage to the organization and the people connected with it. Be it a driver of a vehicle, a Captain of a ship or an aircraft, the boss of a factory or industry, even Government officials and bureaucrats are all taken to task when things go wrong due to their poor decisions.
Presently we are seeing a pandemonium caused by the COVID-19 pandemic due to which millions of people all over the world continue to suffer while hundreds of thousands have already lost their lives. As if this was not enough, in our country, we see huge crowds irrespective of their caste, creed, religion, gender and age including small children trekking for hundreds of miles through the length and breadth of India in sub-human conditions such as heat, hunger, thirst, lack of shelter, and any sort of help from the society at large. Many have died on the way due to fatigue, dehydration and accidents. Why did this have to happen? What was the fault of all these poor people in all the mess that the world is going through today? Are they being punished for trying to eke out a living and helping to build a better India? These and many such questions are beginning to be asked and will continue to haunt the conscience of a true Indian.
Eddie Viegas, Vasco Da Gama
More and more ‘dramabaazi’
Sharing plight with innocent hapless poorest of poor and ensuring their safe transport to home states through party fund are "dramabaazi" indeed! Yes, in these times of all things topsy-turvy, outright damned failure get "worshipped" as emerging "First class first" with "distinction"!
So it is obviously that those who remain absolutely unrepentant despite their supreme recklessness, do not care to express any sort of apology to the living victims of instant lockdown, hardly express slightest sympathy towards the families of hundreds meeting tragic deaths on roads or railway tracks due to hunger heat-strokes or accidents are all "epitome of sanity dignity and responsibility"!
Rather India is in urgent need of more and more "dramabaaz" like Rahul Gandhi where it seems being sympathetic towards the vulnerable have turned into "crime" of sorts!
Kajal Chatterjee, Kolkata
