It is really shocking to see large number of Goans deserting Goa for other lands. These are not small numbers which we can pass by but they are alarmingly high numbers which Goans should take note of immediately.
Yes, I appreciate that there are economic reasons but this is not always the case. I know many well off Goans in Goa, Gulf etc who are also doing the same. Could they have not used their resources to improve their home state? What have they given back to the land of their ancestors?
Yes, there are problems in Goa but can’t we work together and better our state instead of running away to other places to enjoy on benefits that people in those countries worked hard to realize? Guess Goans always want the easy way out. On one side there are few Goans working hard to save Goa, and then on the other hand you have others who are just deserting! In fact, Goan generally are responsible for the mess in Goa today but instead of having the maturity to clean it up they just leave!!
If Goa had an army to protect her, many would just deserted I guess, instead of having the courage of fighting for their land. What’s even more shocking is that children of Freedom Fighters are also doing the same, which makes the freedom struggle a hypocrisy. Do Goans really lack the long term vision to see that the economic power is shifting east and these people are going in the opposite direction!!
I accept that everyone has a right to move wherever he/she wants to, but the bottom line remains i.e Goans must realize that should Goa that we know be no more, they must own up to the fact they their actions are responsible for the same.
Arwin Mesquita, Colva
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Unique collection drive
In an unique cleanliness drive, people of Ponda reportedly conducted it’s 23rd consecutive Sunday Swaccha Bharat Abhiyan cleanliness drive by giving away a total of 100 kg of sugar to around 100 people (Herald April 28). The scheme involves giving one kg of sugar for anyone who brought a kg of plastic waste.
The unique program has evoked a positive response in creating awareness among the people and the students. Indeed cleanliness must be a people’s drive and such programs do help in keeping our surrounding clean. Programs like this should be carried out in other cities and villages of the state.
Shop-owners who deal in essential commodities need to come forward and sponsor the sugar and other food grains that could be exchanged for a kilo of plastic. This will go a long way in creating awareness of the need to keep our surrounding clean since cleanliness is all about one’s attitude towards this necessity.
Adelmo Fernandes, Vasco
Mamata calling the shots
The runaway victory for the Trinamul Congress in the civic elections in West Bengal clearly shows that the party is a formidable force in the eastern state. The party clearly called the shots in winning nearly 69 municipalities as well as the prestigious Kolkata Municipal Corporation, out of 92 civic bodies that went to the polls.
While the BJP embarrassingly ended with the wooden spoon failing to even open its account, the Left Front and the Congress managed to finish a poor second bagging just five civic bodies each. The win should come as a much needed shot in the arm for Mamata Banerjee and company after all the persistent slander against her by the opposition.
N J Ravi Chander, Bengaluru
