SATURDAY, APRIL 20, 2024
In politics, nothing happens by accident
The political scenario in Maharashtra gets murkier day by day, the entire nation wants the issue to be resolved, and Mumbai is the commercial capital for the entire country. The goenkars have seen this in the past and all are aware that the overnight change happens purely for development and for no other reason whatsoever. The surprise here was the Shiv Sena, which is a party of staunch supporters of Balasaheb Thackeray. The entire media is covering the numbers and nobody seems to be asking as to who paid for the charter flights which were used to transport the MLAs, from Mumbai to Surat and then to Guwahati? (The charter flight costs Rs 19 lacs for 6 passengers to travel from Mumbai to Surat alone). Wonder who is paying for the 5-star treatment which the rebels are getting wherever they go?
The opposition is saying that they are not a party to it, but all are aware that the opposition has been trying very hard to come back to power. All eyes on the Governor now, as he is back in office. A popular saying by Franklin D Roosevelt “In politics, nothing happens by accident, if it happens, you can bet, it was planned that way.”
Altaf Shah, Vasco
Restrict liquor sale to save precious lives
Innocent Goans (including youngsters) are seen of late losing their most precious lives and dying in some of the worse tragic road accidents in different parts of Goa. And the root cause for this whole problem is the availability of cheap unlimited booze throughout the state.
Unfortunately, the government of the day is not seen taking a serious note of the above mentioned fact but is still seen issuing licenses for people (mostly outsiders) to setup liquor outlets (despite the state being fully congested with thousands of liquor shops already) even in some of the most interior villages and unnecessarily decorating Goa to make things more worse in the state.
Today, if one goes on a long drive (especially along the coastal belt) then one will practically not find hospitals, medical clinics or pharmacies around but hundreds of liquor outlets every few metres.
And it is due to this we see the domestic tourists openly consuming alcohol almost everywhere and daringly roaming around in two/four wheeler vehicles, creating havoc.
The government of the day instead of supporting the liquor industry to woo the domestic tourists should henceforth put some strict restrictions on the sale of liquor, cut down the number of liquor outlets drastically, give harsh punishment to those indulging in drunken driving and then dream of really saving the precious lives of all from major road accidents in Goa.
Jerry Fernandes, Saligao
Need an effective anti-defection law
This has reference to the report ‘Raut dares rebels for fresh polls’ (Herald 27 June 2022). The political situation in Maharashtra seems to be turning out to be a game of dares. The rebel Sena leader dared to take on the might of the ruling Shiv Sena by taking away a large chunk of MLAs with him. Later, some more dared the party and moved over to the rebel camp. In one of the news reports, the rebel Sena leader is shown playing a game of chess, daring the ruling party to make their next move.
And now, a Sena leader has dared the rebels to come back to Maharashtra, resign from their seats and face re-election. Face re-election - yes that is the important point. This point should be noted by all those across the country who have shifted allegiance to other parties after getting elected on their party ticket. This is where the anti-defection law needs to come into play. But sadly, the present anti-defection law seems powerless and meaningless. Unless the law mandates that once elected, one just cannot defect to another party without resigning his seat and face re-election, we are making a mockery of the people's mandate. A mockery of our democracy itself! Can we dare to have a new, effective anti-defection law in order to save our Democracy?
Melville X. D'Souza, Mumbai
Roads in Goa a Death knell
Daily commuters have been complaining that state authorities are turning a blind eye to the danger that motorists and pedestrians face. The good and properly maintained roads are a fundamental right of every citizen. People need to start filing complaints with the authorities and even with the court so that action can be initiated. The roads are a mess and with the rains it is worse. Although the roads appear tarred or hot-mixed, the poor quality of material used doesn’t allow them to last long in monsoons. Bad road engineering and lack of monitoring by the PWD is responsible. Good roads are our right since we pay taxes and we deserve better facilities as tax payers. Government authorities appear to have taken the lives of people for granted.
K.G. Vilop, Chorao
Role of inventory court proceedings
The CM convening a high level meeting to probe into the land scam is in right direction. All fraudulent inventory proceedings invariably challenged in Civil Courts may just be the tip of the iceberg. The root cause lies with inventory proceedings, successions deeds. The inventory court relies on entry made in Form I & XIV and the Mamlatdar relies on mutation proceedings, successions deeds, and chart of allotment, to delete the existing names or to include the names of allotment. Then matter ends up in the court to decide on their own fraudulent orders, ie inventory court. Otherwise this ought to have been decided by the appellate court ie District Court or High Court.
Antonio D’Souza, by email
Goa needs good governance
There is a need to ensure that in every government office in our tiny state, from the peon to the director is extremely punctual in reporting for work. Even in the Secretariat at Porvorim we very sadly see staff merrily walking in past 10.30 if not later. This is impermissible. Heads of all departments across Goa should themselves lead by example.
Besides, every government employee has a duty to ensure that in serving the public, the staff discharges their duties very courteously, professionally with love, passion and. They must realise that the very people they serve, pay for this service and are therefore their employers who are entitled to expect excellent service at all times. Those who consider serving the people a burden and cannot even smile have no right to continue in service. Government employees reaching the office late, merrily absconding during office hours and leaving office early is absolutely unacceptable as it is an inconvenience to the people visiting the government offices to redress their grievances.
Every step possible must be taken to ensure total transparency, efficiency and honesty in the working of every department. Only then will there be a hope for the much needed Good Governance in Goa.
Aires Rodrigues, Ribandar
