Name Mopa airport after Dr Jack Sequeira
This has reference to the news item in Herald of November 4, under the caption “Protesters urge Government to name Mopa airport after Dayanand Bandodkar”. There is one-upmanship in the naming of the Mopa airport which is nearing fruition and two names of former CMs are cropping up for the coveted nomenclature.
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It may be noted that a Samadhi Sthal of Goa’s first chief minister late Dayanand Bandodkar is already set up at the Miramar beach and rubbing shoulders is a Parrikar memorial which is under construction. Duplication of memorials needs to be avoided as Goa has a plethora of unsung heroes. It seems that the government is bankrupt of ideas for coming up with other eminent names of stature who have also contributed selflessly in the development of the State. One such name that comes to mind is that of Dr Jack de Sequeira whose role in the Goa Referendum widely considered as the Father of Opinion Poll, has been instrumental in attaining the Statehood of Goa unlike Dayanand Bandodkar of erstwhile UGP who was in favour of merger with Maharashtra. Standing tall against this background, the Mopa Airport deserves to be named after Dr Jack de Sequeira who played a pivotal role in shaping the politics of the State.
The true freedom fighters for liberation of Goa from Portuguese rule are Tristao de Braganca Cunha, an illustrious son of Chandor, Tele Mascarenhas, Mohan Ranade and Ram Manohar Lohia and not Dayanand Bandodkar as claimed by the protesters, who came on the liberation scene much later.
The run of the mill CM Pramod Sawant intends to seek the intervention of the centre in the naming process, which is a State subject, by taking recourse from the double engine government. The naming of greenfield Mopa Airport smacks of divisive politics by majoritarian rule masterminded by the saffron brigade.
Everette Assis Telles, Margao
Provide free transport for school children
It is learnt that the state owned Kadamba Transport Corporation (KTC) has recently hiked the rates for the weekly, monthly and annual bus passes. The government has reportedly not spared even the students who have to shell out more for public transport to go to school and back home.
It is pertinent to note that many-a-time students from remote areas have to hop from one bus to another in order to reach their school. This will be an additional financial burden for children belonging to poor families. The government needs to give all the encouragement for poor families to send their children to school.
Children are the future of our country and need to be provided with all the amenities to continue with the schooling and providing affordable travelling facilities to school by public transport forms an integral part of it. If poor families cannot afford to send their children to school by public transport there could even be school dropouts.
Not all schools have buses of their own. It would be prudent for the government to provide free transport in the KTC buses for students in the rural areas. For students in the urban areas the rates for the weekly, monthly and annual bus passes needs to be reduced drastically.
Adelmo Fernandes, Vasco
Three bridges over
the Mandovi
The Atal Setu bridge was built as the other two bridges over the Mandovi were thought to be structurally unsound.
Yet we see that there has been no proper structural assessment and repairs or decommissioning of the old bridges, in fact it appears that the two bridges combined carry more traffic than the Atal Setu.
Part of the problem is that the Atal Setu only has direct connections (although in a roundabout way at one end) to NH 66 and it would be difficult for city traffic to use Atal Setu.
I think in spite of the hype it is of poor design as far as traffic management is concerned and poor use of tax payers money. It would be good to hear from Goa’s Chief Engineer as an answer to this query.
J K Barbosa, Calangute
Ensure public services to citizens
The Right to Service Act contains statutory laws and provisions to ensure time-bound delivery of public services to citizens of India. The Goa Government should implement the Goa (Right of Citizens to Time-Bound Delivery of Public Services) Act, 2013, including imposition of stringent penalties on government employees for delays.
The Act has been made in Goa but there is no penalty for it in Goa and it has become defunct. The legislation was passed by the State assembly in 2013 but was never made applicable to all departments. Most importantly, though the law speaks about imposing fines up to Rs 2,500 on any government officer who fails to provide the public service to eligible persons, the clause was never implemented.
It should be made universally applicable to all services. Directions should be given to all heads of departments to implement the Act. The Act should be notified in its entirety across all the departments.
The rules and regulations under the Act should be notified soon with stringent penalties imposed on government staff for delaying services. Public Services are the rights of Indian citizens and must be provided to them by designated government officials within the stipulated time.
KG Vilop, Chorao
CBI requests
on corruption
Many Goans must have been aghast with the CBI asking people to come forward fearlessly with their complaints on corruption.
In the State of Goa where there is rampant corruption, starting from the most senior ministers, how is it possible that corruption cannot flow down to government officials? There are numerous examples out of which let me quote two: 1) The current ruling party had termed a then Mormugao Congressman as “Most Corrupt” but the moment he joined the BJP, all seems now to be “forgiven”, 2) An Ex BJP CM was found by the Lokayukta to be involved in mining scam to which the Goa Government declined to prosecute.
Basically with all such cases I think people have lost confidence in any government authority including agencies like CBI, that the guilty will be ever brought to book. And it’s well known that the government machinery can target/harass people coming forward with complaints.
Where is the Goa government vigilance department which is supposed to investigate the numerous incidents of corruption reported regularly in Goa? Are they in a coma? If the CBI is really interested can’t they take up cases suo motu?
Arwin Mesquita, Colva
Make vaccinations
mandatory for dogs
Just like humans, dogs require vaccinations to keep healthy and prevent sickness. Dog vaccinations are an essential component of providing better care for one’s so-called furry pet. Therefore, it is important for every pet owner to be aware of dog vaccinations and to vaccinate their pets.
As per veterinary science there are vaccines that can prevent diseases in dogs that have been tested and are readily available. Because their immune systems are still developing when the dogs are still puppies, they are more prone to infections. It is therefore advisable to begin immunising them when they are infancy stage. Additional antibodies that aid in preventing disease will be produced as a result of vaccinations. There must be a full immunisation cycle. As per veterinarians, unvaccinated domestic dogs are more likely to infect both humans and other dogs with diseases than those who have received vaccinations.
VijayKumar H K, Raichur
