Eye opener for all
I want to compliment Dr Francisco Colaco for his enlightening article titled ‘The age of loneliness’ (Herald, February 1). This article is an eye-opener for all ages for today, and for years to come. The article is truly in-depth and meaningful.
Liberio Mascarenhas, Margao
Budget not for common man
The annual budget presented by Honourable Finance Minister in the Parliament on Monday, although applauded by the corporates and stock market hardly gives anything to the common man, especially for the salaried category. As it is the interest rates on the bank deposits are abysmally low. So the common man used to contribute to PF voluntarily so that on retirement he has a comfortable corpus fund which will give him some good returns on the interest.
With this budget, by taxing any amount contributed to PF for more than Rs2.5 lakh, even that avenue has been plugged. Now the concern is that where should a common man invest and how should he take care of his post retirement days?
Milind Kulkarni, Taleigao
The Rs 300 crore bonanza for Goa
The recent budget hopefully shall provide a booster shot for the national economy so badly ravaged by the pandemic. There was also an unexpected windfall of Rs 300 crores allocated to Goa to celebrate the state’s 60th anniversary of liberation from Portuguese rule. There should be a meaningful way of spending this largesse which will add lasting value to our state. Part of the funds should be utilised to boost tourism and make Goa a truly world class destination and reclaim the market which has been usurped by other States and even neighbouring nations like Sri Lanka, Nepal, Maldives and Thailand.
The preservation of Goa’s physical heritage, cuisine and indigenous crafts should be also looked at by the government. Next there is a need to incentivise private infrastructure projects and make Goa an industry friendly state, the multiplier effect would boost employment for locals; all pending works at the municipal and panchayat levels which don’t involve huge financial outlay should be completed. The government must also consider setting up infrastructure in the education sector, both physical and digital so that long term benefit is derived by generations of Goans to come.
Last but not the least, cultural institutions like the Kala Academy, Tiatr academies, Ravindra Bhavans, etc, should be upgraded and efforts to revive folk arts like Mussol Khel, Fugdi, Dhalo, Dekhni, etc, should be made, this would have a beneficial effect on encouraging quality tourism. Implementation of these small incremental steps would be a true celebration of our freedom from Portuguese rule.
Vinay Dwivedi, Benaulim
Budget, what’s in it for salaried class?
This has reference to the headlines ‘FM’s booster dose for infra, healthcare’ (Herald, Feb 2) – how nice, morale boosting! What a dose! The wings of the middle class/salaried class have already been clipped by COVID-19, the body is in coma, and now the Budget. What is in it for the salaried class? There is no relief in Income tax, on the contrary, interest earned on PF contribution (of above 2.5L) will now be taxed.
PF is seen as a long-term post retirement investment. Senior citizens have been thrown into the frying pan! So, at the end of the day, who is in a position to spend? The government of course, the Finance minister is on a spending spree, with our money!
Another disturbing news is the proposed sale of two PSU banks which means, the salaried/middle class will be exposed to the risks posed by private sector banks. You could have done better, madam finance minister, health is in bad shape yes, we desperately need a better booster!
Melville X D’Souza, Mumbai
Union Budget is anti-people
The union budget 2021 is to deceive the masses. It is an anti-farmer, anti-people and anti-country budget. This paperless budget is only a visionless. They are selling everything from PSUs, ports, railways, insurance, etc. Rich get richer, poor get poorer and nothing for middleclass. Budget fails to provide ‘Ration’ to migrant labourers impacted by pandemic-There should have been announcement for direct cash transfer with employment support package-as usual union Govt left labour stranded.
There is no information about how many promises have been fulfilled, which were made in the last five years. In regards to Kisan Udan scheme, says the government will coordinate with the civil aviation department, but will they make the farmers fly in the aeroplane instead of road. There is no mention of measures for employment generation in the budget.
KG Vilop, Chorao
For whom is the gift of Rs 300 crore?
Any common man will think twice before spending even a small amount of Rs 3,000 forget about spending 300 crores. And for what is the amount being spent? On celebration?
Goa CM has said that he had asked only for Rs 100 crores and the wise finance minister of India gifted him three times the amount. Whose money is this and for whom is it being spent? Who is going to benefit from these Rs 300 crores? If this money a gift to the Goa CM for selling Madhei to Karnataka? Or is it a gift for pushing the three linear projects down our throats?
Will anyone answer these questions? Or will we sit in our cosy balcao and say, maka kiteak poddlam?
Matias Lobo, Tivim
Ancestral home of Kamala Harris
Those of you who have travelled from Vasco to Vailankanni by train will have passed station named Thiruvarrur Jn at the fag end of the journey. Thiruvarrur is just 35 kms away from Vailankanni. Here the train stops for a very long time. At this point of the journey, the engine detaches from the train and attaches itself to the rear end of the train before continuing on its journey to Velankanni on a branch line. This station is now attracting much attention as the ancestral home of US vice president Kamala Harris.
Robert Castellino, Calangute/Mumbai
Saving grace, beating the retreat
The sacrilege at the Red Fort on January 26 is unacceptable. To hoist a religious flag on the Red Fort exposed our security in the capital city and cops were attacked mercilessly. The so-called peaceful farmer protest turned into what was always expected. A bunch of politicians, turned into silent spectators vanished into thin air. And the opposition has condemned the police for not dealing with the protestors firmly. If the police had taken strong actions, then they would have been pilloried. The talking heads in the studios are busy blaming everyone except the ones on whose shoulders the entire mess to be placed.
After all, the 19 months of Emergency had everything in India working with clockwork precision. People did what they were supposed to do and there were no protests, no strikes. Let us not point out the past misery but taking into account what had happened at Red Fort we need to take recourse and see that such things never ever happen again. Better council should prevail and should not take such a beating in the name of democracy.
CKR Nathan, Ghaziabad
