SATURDAY, APRIL 20, 2024
The rampaging fuel prices
The common man has been at the receiving end of petroleum based fuel prices going up and up for 11 days consecutively now. The prices of LPG that is commonly used fuel for households has been also increasing. The Finance Minister when asked about this a short while ago said that the government has got nothing to do with it.
Thus you see when the common man goes to the government with a grievance you are met with utter unconcern and neglect and are told that they can do nothing about it. The FM is passing the buck of the oil price increase to the oil marketing Cos. You escalate the issue to the PM and he says that past governments are responsible because they took no action to reduce dependence on imported oil.
When you remind him that his government has been in power for 7 years and press him to outline what he has done in this period to contain oil prices in India, he will probably go back further into the past and blame the British and other colonial powers for the problem since many a time when pressurised to explain problems faced by the country now he has gone back in time from Nehru and even Mahatma Gandhi to assign blame.
The PM has done nothing and will do nothing is Modi's mantra. The only thing he knows to do is to put the common man in this country to needless and unnecessary problems like the farmers now camping on the outskirts of Delhi for over 3 months now; before that the CAA protesters across India; earlier the students agitating in various universities, then going back to the sloppy implementation of the GST and lastly the Demonetisation exercise where he snatched money from the pockets of the common man and made them worthless.
This is the attitude of the political leadership in this country now to the common man’s problems. Oil or petroleum fuels and byproducts thereof like LPG remains the highly taxed commodity in India with it attracting cascading taxes like Central Excise and then the State Sales Taxes and further Octroi and other municipal taxes in certain parts of the country. The Finance Minister and the PM could have lent a sympathetic ear to the problem of the increasing prices of domestic oil related fuels and reduced the taxes that the Centre is imposing and asking the States to cut their taxes, but such simple measures are beyond their comprehension.
Srinivas Kamat, Alto St.Cruz
Seamen pension
Nearly 11 months have passed, Goa retired seamen have not received their retired seamen pension, i.e. Rs 2,500 per month. Our GSAI has requested our CM about this, and the CM has given his assurance on this. But now many months have passed, but still we seamen have not got our retired pension.
Hope our CM, will see to seamen grievance and solve our problem, as soon as possible, awaiting for your good reply.
Edgar Martins, Chinchinim
Disha's arrest is wrong
The sudden arrest of climate activist Disha Ravi from her house in Bengaluru is unfortunate. Her arrest is not just an abuse of the sedition laws, but an attempt to stifle dissent.
More importantly, her arrest is symptomatic of the state's efforts to brand someone who speaks out strongly on an issue as 'anti- national'. Her arrest is also an example of the impunity with which the executive and police acts. One hopes and prays that Disha Ravi gets justice soon.
Anish Esteves, Mumbai
Exercising caution at ATMs
It is learnt that a citizen stepped into the ATM of a bank in Panjim to withdraw money. After he put the card in the slot and was just about to punch in the amount to be withdrawn, the ATM machine suddenly poured out notes totalling Rs 10,000. The person who received the unexpected cash from the malfunctioning ATM displayed rare honesty in returning it back to the bank officials. The citizen deserves all praise for this act and the bank would do well to present to him a certificate of honesty.
However, the bigger question is how did the ATM malfunction? Did the money belong to a person who used the ATM previously and did not receive it for some reason? It is for the concerned bank to investigate and return the money to the rightful owner. Be that as it may, people need to be careful when the amount they punched is not dispensed by the ATM machine. There is a possibility of the ATM going offline in the middle of a transaction and the money dispensed when it gets back to being online. Citizens need to wait till the message “Thanks for using the ATM” appears on the screen. It would be advisable to press the “Clear” and “Cancel” button on the machine.
Citizens also need to counter-check the amount withdrawn from the message received on the mobile. Banks need to immediately replace malfunctioning ATM machines to avoid such incidents.
Adelmo Fernandes, Vasco
Operation extension to offshore casinos
Whenever the months of March and September are upon us, it is a foregone conclusion that the offshore casinos would get an extension to ply their trade. And we are not surprised that this has come true this year too. Let us congratulate the casino owners for successfully maneuvering yet another extension till Sept. 2021. To save time and avoid this annual drama the government could sign with the casino owners a 99-year lease or till the Mandovi River is fully polluted and/or dried up, whichever is later. This step would save time and paperwork.
Incidentally, why should the Goa govt spend their resources to identify a suitable place for the casinos to move? This should be the task of the casino owners. Does the government help a poor ‘gadda’ or eatery owner who gets displaced because of road widening or when their property is acquired for ‘public interest /utility?’
Sridhar D’Iyer, Caranzalem
