Abrogation of Articles helped Kashmiri women
August 5, 2020 marks the first anniversary of the abrogation of the Articles 370 and 35A which offered certain temporary privileges to the State of Jammu and Kashmir. These provisions actually hindered the development of J&K and acted as an impediment in implementing the laws enacted by the Indian Parliament.
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Abrogation of these Articles helped Kashmiri women to enjoy equal rights as that of the men, bring transparency to the Government and better affiliation of Central development fund at Panchayat level, it also removed the restrictions on transfer of land which encouraged private investment and inflow of capital on industrial sector leading to industrialisation and growth in job opportunities. Removal of these Articles ensured protection of rights of SC/ST people in the State and grant of citizenship to the thousands of sanitization workers who were denied citizenship earlier, despite being born and brought up and living in J&K for many decades.
The people in Jammu and Kashmir that they have participated in the election process there itself indicated their involvement in the development of that State since independence from the British. The abrogation of Articles 370 and 35A is transforming Jammu and Kashmir through growth in investment, development and employment, it will also a big boost for tourism, education and health sector.
I have no doubt that abrogation of these Articles will go a long way in National integration, overall well-being and development of J&K and Ladakh too and flourishing of democracy in its full form.
A.Veronica Fernandes, Candolim
Help victims of trafficking
The Colva police on Friday busted a sex racket with the arrest of a pimp and rescued two women. Acting on a tip-off that a person has been supplying girls for prostitution the police laid a trap with the help of a decoy customer. Against the backdrop of prostitution activities surfacing despite dangers of COVID-19 pandemic, it is understood that pimps are misusing the lockdown and continue to lure rescued victims back into the flesh trade in Goa.
Several rescued victims who have been rehabilitated are reportedly finding it difficult to make ends meet due to loss of jobs as a result of the lockdown. This makes these needy women vulnerable to the pimps who lure them back to the flesh trade. The police need to crackdown on this illegal trade by arresting the agents and pimps and rescue the women trapped in the net.
NGOs need to come forward and provide the survivors a means of livelihood so that they do not have to fall back to the world’s oldest profession in order to make both ends meet.
Adelmo Fernandes, Vasco
New HC premises at Porvorim
Our new High Court premises at Porvorim, the foundation of which was laid on December 19, 2013 should hopefully be ready by this year end. The structure has been designed like the Gujarat High Court but surprisingly has no sloping roof which may not be proper in view of the heavy rainfall Goa gets. The authorities need to take swift remedial measures or else we may end up with a leaking High Court constructed at a whopping cost of over Rs 100 crores.
Goa’s highest Temple of Justice instead of being just another concrete structure should have reflected the facets of unique Goan architecture. The legacy of Goa’s rich history in field of judicial and legal services could have been placed in a better context for posterity.
With the construction of the complex for Panjim’s lower courts at Merces dragging and the government paying rent through the nose for those four floors housing the lower courts at Patto Plaza, it would be prudent to shift all the lower Courts to the three huge buildings at Altinho which would be vacant once the High Court moves to Porvorim. There would also be enough space there to accommodate the Administrative Tribunal, State Consumer Redressal Commission and the Labour Courts. It would make more efficient and facilitate the administration of justice besides ending the criminal waste of public funds by way of huge rentals being paid for the premises currently housing these Courts.
Aires Rodrigues, Ribandar
Wishing fellow Goans a healthy August
The month of August is synonymous with consumption of our traditional coconut and jaggery laid down by our ancestors to ward off the associated ailments of cough, cold and common influenza prevalent with the change in climate. It is believed that during the month of August many people fall ill because of the incessant rains and consequent change in weather patterns.
Since coconut and jaggery are organic staples and easily available in abundance, let us follow in the footsteps of our forefathers who believed in this time-tested therapy of keeping all related monsoon sickness at bay. This concoction of Goa jaggery and coconut may also act as an antigen to the pandemic coronavirus.
So let us enjoy this tradition, as good health is what matters. Wishing you a healthy August month.
Everette Assis Telles,
Margao
Mega project,sub-standard quality?
Goa’s infamous Atal Setu Bridge has recently been in the limelight for the wrong reasons yet again. After prolonged construction that sparked environmental concerns and regular traffic chaos, the bridge was partially thrown open in 2019 with a whopping exchequer bill.
However, not longer after the much-hyped inauguration, questions have been repeatedly raised whether the project’s cost justifies its quality. Barely over a year later, the verdict is out, and photographic evidence isn’t suggesting a commendable grade.
It is an eyesore to note that cracks have already begun developing at several junctures, while the surfacing of potholes is another unforgiving nuisance for motorists. The concerned builder has been ordered to rectify these flaws, but must such substandard quality be tolerated again? How long will the common story of shoddy patchwork continue?
Jude Fernandes, Vasco da Gama
Hooch deaths
People dying due to consumption of illicit liquor is quite common in India. Nearly fifty people lost their lives in three districts of Punjab’s Majah region after drinking hooch. Incidentally, death came knocking at the doors of the villagers at a time when cops were on an anti-spurious liquor drive in Punjab.
The illicit liquor traders exploit the gullible by offering them employment opportunities as well as serving dangerous spirits mixed with methanol to those consumers who can ill afford the luxury of ‘enjoying’ Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL). When cheap distilled liquor is mixed with methanol for that ‘ extra kick’, the inevitable happens. It is almost always the small time traders who are booked, while the larger perpetrators of the crime go scot-free.
When hooch tragedies take place, an all too familiar inquiry commissions are formed to ‘look-into’ the causes and remedies. Assam, Uttarakhand, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Gujarat and Maharashtra have witnessed the most terrible hooch tragedies in independent India.
Nationalisation of sale of liquor to eliminate illicit liquor traders, through a national liquor policy, and taking stringent steps to control free availability of rectified spirit, are steps that can go a long way in preventing hooch deaths. There is an urgent need to scrupulously control the manufacture, transport and sale of illicit liquor.
Ganapathi Bhat, Akola
