SUNDAY, MAY 19, 2024
Team Herald
QUEPEM: Assuring that the State government was in the process of re-starting mining activities legally, Goa governor P S Pillai said that the Raj Bhavan would also pursue the matter. “The Supreme Court judgment on mining is the law of the land, but the Goa government is making due efforts to resume mining, legally,” he told media persons at Sharda English High School, Sanvordem, which he visited during his tour of Quepem and Curchorem on Saturday, as part of his Sampurna Goa Yatra.
While he interacted with panchayat members from different villages in the area, Pillai remarked that Goa was the richest State in India, going by the per capita income, and said that it was still important to create a self-reliant Goa. “Panchas are the ground-level representatives of the people, who should try to understand the aspirations, demands and pulse of the people, and strive to be successful representatives of the people,” said Pillai. He reminded the government employees in the gathering that they were under a duty to serve the people. “Whether you are a Minister, Deputy Collector, Mamlatdar, BDO, Sarpanch, Councillor or Governor, we have been appointed to collectively serve the people and redress their problems; only then will there be progress in rural areas,” said the Governor.
Talking about a cause that is close to his heart, Pillai said that the Raj Bhavan would constitute an expert committee to study why a large number of patients with end-stage kidney disease, who require dialysis, are from the Canacona and Fatorpa areas. He also distributed financial assistance to 18 dialysis patients. Accompanied by his wife Reeta Pillai, the Governor also paid visits to the Saptkoteshwar and Shree Shantadurga Fatarpekarin temples at Fatorpa, the Babulshaha Pir Aulia Dargah and Mahadev Temple at Cacora and the Guardian Angel Church at Curchorem, where he interacted with and sought blessings from the religious leaders at each place of worship.
