God alone can
save Goa
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Hundreds of Goans from different parts of the state reportedly held a peaceful rally on Sunday against the proposed draft jetty policy (a controversial policy which most Goans claim is a backdoor entry to usurp Goa’s waters and adjoining land for corporations to make short-term profits by destroying the State’s fragile ecosystem) and which finally culminated at Azad Maidan in the city where copies of the said ‘jetty policy’ were symbolically burnt.
I think that if we Goans have reached to such a state of no return then it is solely due to our own indifferent attitude as we keep electing the same old faces again and again.
And the worst part is that we Goans habitually love to live a most self-centred cum selfish life full of ‘Folgham’ (unlimited enjoyment), fully isolated or cut-off from the outside world and with a ‘Mhaka Kiteak Podlam’ attitude. Yes, it is this attitude of ours that the politicians have taken advantage and due to which we are seeing them today daringly bulldozing some of the most unwanted destructive projects/ policies just for the sake of filling their own personal bank accounts and slowly destroying Goa right in front of our very own noses in the state. I think God alone can save Goa.
Jerry Fernandes, Saligao
Who is to blame for
the Morbi collapse?
At least 141 people have died after a British-era bridge in Gujarat’s Morbi collapsed on Sunday evening. Eyewitnesses say there were several women and children on the nearly 150-year-old bridge when cables supporting it snapped, sending scores of people tumbling into the river below.
The bridge which was capable of holding weight of 125 people was burdened 4 times of its capacity. Visuals have been circulated on social media of people jumping on the bridge and trying to sway it from one way to the other. The question is who is to be blamed for the mishap. The government who opened the bridge after the renovation with no proof of security or the reckless citizens who always try to misuse the facilities provided by the government, later casually blaming government for every ‘ifs and buts.’
A high level review meeting is the need of the hour to bring the corrective measures in the effect.
Tashi Baheti, Ujjain
Fix accountability for
government servants
Being a democratic nation the public servants should be made accountable. As accountability is an important element of a good governance to increase the trust of public. It brings more discipline into the actions of public servant and hence motivates them to deliver better services. It will help to improve service delivery and effective utilisation of resources.
The State governments should effectively implement fixing accountability on every government servant at every stage at every level. Good governance can be provided by public servants only if they realise that they are not masters of the people, but they are only servants of the people and that they are duty bound to the people.
Currently, no law exists under which government employees can be prosecuted or held liable for inaction. The general impression about personnel manning public institutions not performing and getting away with it needs to change.
It is time that public servants, particularly officers of the government in every department, are made to answer for the inconvenience, trauma and loss caused to the public due to their failure to act on time and to make them liable for inaction. Pave the way by making public servants accountable if they fail to perform their duties.
KG Vilop, Chorao
All Saints’ Day
All Saints’ Day is a Catholic festival celebrated to honour the saints. It is also known as the Feast of All Saints, All Hallows’ Day, Solemnity of All Saints and Hallowmas.
As the name suggest, it is a festival to honour all the saints, known and unknown. The feast is celebrated on November 1 by the Catholic church. In Catholic countries, All Saints’ Day is an official public holiday. In the eastern orthodox churches and the other eastern Catholic churches, associates celebrate All Saints’ Day on the first Sunday after Pentecost. The Catholic celebration of All Saints’ Day (November 1) and All Souls’ Day (November 2) stems from a belief that there is a powerful spiritual bond between those in heaven (the “Church triumphant”), and the living (the “Church militant”). In Catholic theology, the day commemorates all those who have attained the beatific vision
in heaven.
Jubel D’Cruz, Mumbai
People in power and plight of citizens
Most of those in power seem to be least concerned about the plight of the common man. The daily trials and tribulation faced by them. The multitude of failures and shortcomings from poor health and social care to soaring crime, dreadful public services, and transport, to unacceptable and crumbling infrastructure and economic stagnation. Garbage and the stench of the filth all around continue to be a permanent eye sore and an environmental nightmare.
It is vital that our elected representatives venture to have a feel of the reality out there. Unless they travel in public transport, they will not know what a harrowing experience it can be. Only if they move around on a motorcycle pilot will they experience the potholes.
They need to walk around the roads to see for themselves the pathetic state of the footpaths and the nightmare faced especially by the elderly and feeble. Those in power must line up incognito at government offices to see the sad state of governance.
And if they care to visit the markets, they would get a gruelling experience of the filth all over. And by going out shopping they will see for themselves the exorbitant prices of everything and must care to imagine what the common man is going through and how difficult they are finding to make ends meet.
Our politicians are not talented or committed enough to make the change that the people are crying out for. They live for themselves only, going from one photo shoot to the next. From one ribbon cutting to the next, chauffeur driven in air-conditioned government cars, all funded by the suffering public. If those in public office cannot effect change then they should be changed. As always, to win elections, politicians promise heaven and deliver hell. But our politicians are used to VIP treatment from dawn and dusk and cannot fathom the pains of the common man.
Aires Rodrigues, Ribandar
Women should
be respected
The rape incidents in our country are going from bad to worse and almost every day rapes are reported. This is merely due to nuclear family system. A girl child is at a receiving end right from birth. There is no joy in the family when a girl child is born. When she grows up she is subjected to doing household chores and not allowed to go to school. When a boy is born there is grand celebration in the family as the boy is regarded as an asset and girl a liability.
This misconception must be removed in the 21st century as those girls who are accepted well in some families have gone on to be well educated, earning big salary and even supporting their family and also looking after the old age parents. Man often look at women as a commodity y. In order to stop this, we usually blame the government and the police but we forget to blame our own families who have harassed and degraded our own girl child from birth. If this stops I am sure that there will be end to rape incidents in our country.
Diomedes Pereira, Corlim
