Was an audit done to determine loot of 83 lakhs by ex Smart city boss?
The Central government's Smart City projects have actually ended up as a convenient vehicle for politicians and the bureaucrats to loot and plunder. It is a disgrace that senior citizens in particular have had to suffer inhaling the dust and their backbone in disarray due to the potholed roads.
The Panaji Smart City Corporation has seen two Managing Directors one outsider Swayandipta Pal Chaudhuri and the other Sanjit Rodrigues. Both seemed to have the same agenda to loot the state exchequer. Now the Government has initiated action against Chaudhuri for looting Rs 83 lakhs. But how they have come to that figure is a question. Was any audit done on the figures. It could even be Rs 83 crores as the total project is over Rs 1500 crores.
Now coming to Sanjit, the former MD, he is actually to be blamed for all the mess Panjim and Ribandar is facing today.
He should be held responsible, accountable and hauled up. Just transferring him for incompetence will not serve any purpose. Whenever Sanjit held meetings when he was handed this Smart City project, his slogan at every meeting was ‘I am not Chaudhuri, I am Sanjit Rodrigues.’
At least Chaudhuri left without harming the health and wellbeing of the residents. Sanjit Rodrigues without any vision for Panjim City, made a mockery of Panjim and Panjimites by taking us all for a ride.
Wilson D'Sousa , Ribandar
Promote “Pothole
tourism” in Goa
After reading the editorial titled, “Wage battle against bad roads" (O Heraldo 19.9.2024) and daily witnessing the scores of potholes that dot the road-scape in Goa, it may not be advisable to take law in our hands by way of agitations and be punished. The best way would be for the tourism department or an enterprising entrepreneur to start “pothole tourism.”
This would involve spotting potholes, identifying shapes (round, spherical, star-shaped, irregular etc.), measuring dimensions (depth, radius), whether old or new, number of potholes in 10 sq m and other issues.
Selected potholes could be used for games such as hop-skip-jump, hurdle running, throwing objects into the potholes, long jump, pole vault, ringing the potholes, planting maximum saplings in two minutes, zig-zag driving by cars, bikes and autorickshaws and many more. The roads with the maximum potholes could be turned into a golf course so that people can shoot a hole-in-one. The winners in the events would be entitled to free physiotherapy and check-up and treatment by orthopaedic surgeons, sponsored by the contractors.
As locals are kept away from casino vessels, they should not be allowed to participate in the events. This will ensure fair play we are well aware as to where the potholes exist, whether in the urban or rural areas, and avoid them on a daily basis. For us (including the authorities who travel by high-end vehicles), potholes are not exciting as they cause misery, leading to broken limbs and damaged vehicles.
Sridhar D’Iyer, Caranzalem
Growing accidental
deaths in Goa
There there is a drastic increase in number of accidental deaths in Goa by every passing day. It is very depressing and painful to see or hear that most of the deceased are youngsters who lost their lives that left terrible nightmares and excruciating pain to their respective families.
The causes of these accidents such as rash driving, disobeying traffic rules, drink and driving, stray animals menace, avoiding safety measures and improper road maintenance need to be addressed carefully and precautionary measures should be taken to avoid such deadly fatal accidents.
We as a responsible citizens must follow all traffic rules and regulations and take all necessary safety measures. Also government must take initiative to improve quality of roads and related issues to avoid such deaths because every precious life matters and together we all need to safeguard it.
Miltina Pinto, Margao
Not tongue
in cheek!
The political atmosphere is so vitiated in the country that the BJP and it's allies have absolutely no tolerance for Opposition leaders, especially when they are significantly impacting the national discourse.
A ruling party MLA yesterday demanded that Rahul Gandhi's tongue should be seared with a red hot iron. This came close on the heels of another elected official aligned with the BJP announcing a Rs 11 lakh reward for anyone cutting Rahul's tongue over his remarks on reservation.
An ex-Congressman, now with the saffron outfit branded the Leader of the Opposition as India's biggest terrorist and warned that he would meet the same fate as his grandmother. Amongst all this toxicity, the BJP has maintained a studied silence, which is a clearly a tacit approval of the utterances of it's representatives, not a word from Amit Shah or Modi to rein in these criminals. A battle of ideologies should not morph into an “off with his head” fiat by stooges of the party in power. This dogwhistling and targeting of opposition leaders can turn into something really tragic, but it is exactly what the BJP wants, an opposition mukt Bharat. Sad beyond words.
Vinay Dwivedi, Benaulim
Qualified teachers needed in schools
The impact of unqualified teachers on students' academic performance is evident, with under-performance and difficulties in meeting academic performance of students.
Reports suggest that many teachers are unqualified as per the National Council for Teacher Education Regulations (NCTE). To improve quality of education, Goa needs to invest in qualified teachers.
Poor learning levels at school is the biggest concern of the Indian school education system, with poor learning outcomes exacerbated by the learning crisis. To improve learning outcomes, the role of teachers is pivotal.
The adequate qualified and trained teachers remains a significant challenge for the public education system in primary and elementary school. Some people are concerned that many teachers are not sufficient, qualified for the classroom and argue that they should be required to pass competency tests before they are allowed to teach.
Mostly teachers know little or nothing about the new concepts included in the new curriculum. Therefore, there is need to assess the characteristics of the primary school teachers in terms of qualification, experience and teaching methodology in order to ensure quality of education given to the pupils.
The government needs to recruit and utilise professionally qualified teachers in enhancing good performance in primary school education. Effective teaching is enhanced by well-trained and qualified teachers. It's seen that most of the teachers and govt employees lack skills and their writings are unsatisfactory from poor grammar and syntax. Some of them even don't know to write a simple application. While DEd is the main pre-requisite for teaching at the pre-primary and primary school level as mandated by the Right to Education Act, a BEd is mandatory for teaching in secondary and higher secondary schools.
K G Vilop, Chorao