1) Atleast 50% of administration related jobs should be reserved for Goans and should be with main contractor and not thru subcontractor
2) Due to closure of mining, certain percentage of job in skilled / unskilled categories should be reserved for this affected workforce
3) Outstanding engineering students could be posted on the huge complex projects say as on study tour this, will enable Govt. to have in house capabilities in long run
4)State employment exchange should play an important role i.e to track Goans employment on projects (manpower staffing plan as per contract requirement), employees well being etc.
In all above most important is that the Govt. should make necessary provisions to enable main contractors to bear the cost burden such as salaries, perks, training cost outside Goa etc.
Edwin Fernandes, Aldona
Stand on Baina demolitions
Since the last couple of days we are getting diverse reports on the demolition of over 70 shanties in Baina, Mormugao taluka. We are uncertain as to why the hutments were razed much to the anguish of the ill-fated and helpless dwellers.
Is it because the shelters that were built violated the provisions of Coastal Regulatory Zone (CRZ)? If that is so then how is it that a new structure to house a bar and restaurant is allowed to come up in the same area. It is also alleged that the temporary structures were illegal constructions. If it is so then how were they allowed to proliferate over time, without taking prompt action there and then, to put an end to the menace?
The opposition has been targeting the move as politically motivated, possibly in view of the change in government, apparently because the said area was not the vote bank of the ruling BJP. The Chief Minister has been saying that the hutments were demolished in the interest of the villagers as the rising waves during high tide could be dangerous to the inhabitants.
Irrespective of what the reality is we want to know why was such drastic action taken to render the people homeless in the middle of the rainy season? We read reports that there are families with infants, including new-born babies who are driven to face the fury of nature. This is inhuman whether we accept it or not and against the law of nature.
Even in the earlier Parrikar-led government similar drive of devastation was carried out in the same village in the midst of the monsoons, in the name of cleansing the state from the menace of red light area. What I have observed over the years is this: the government of the time allows all such dwellings to prosper, thriving on their votes. Suddenly there is a change in government! The mood of vengeance against the target group is set in to settle old scores. This is in violation of human rights. Though it may hurt some, I stick to my view and call it a sadistic act.
Michael Vaz, Merces
Parents blamed
As was expected, the parents protesting against the admission of alleged HIV +ve children to a Rivona school have been ultimately dubbed the villains by the powers that be and a lid is sought to be put on the whole controversy. The public at large has been left with half truths and confusion prevails over what the issue was all about.
The parents cannot be entirely blamed for their ignorance and are well within their rights to feel fearful and act defensively. The actual culprits in this episode are the various government and civil society players who have taken the local communities for granted and gone about bypassing certain prerequisites for tackling the social stigma attached to HIV infected patients and providing after-care. Is the local Panchayat not important when it comes to awareness on HIV, after-care and conflict management? Now that the issue will die down, not out of conviction but by adoption of coercive tactics like inducing fear of courts and social condemnation, those responsible for undertaking the preventive programs on HIV can be expected to fall back into deep slumber until such time as another situation erupts in some other corner of Goa. The Government needs to come out with a white paper on this Rivona incident and bring the actual facts and negligence, if any, on record.
Soter D’Souza, Socorro
