Best of luck to the new ministers
Best of luck to the all the new Ministers who have been given new portfolios by Narendra Modi and commiserations to the ones who were shown the door. Among the high profile ex-ministers are Ravi Shankar Prasad, Prakash Javdekar and Dr Harsh Vardhan who were holding important portfolios like law and health were replaced because of inefficiency which the people had to suffer.
But the apples of Modi’s eyes, Smriti Irani and Nirmala Sitaraman have not been removed in spite of their inefficiency in handling the economy. If the reshuffle was done on the basis of performance then it was the duty of the Prime Minister to resign first.
Matias Lobo, Tivim
Fr Swamy is a Martyr
The United Nations body on human rights has expressed anguish over death of Jesuit priest Stan Swamy, who was jailed under the anti-terror law in the Elgar Parishad case.
The case also highlights the tyranny of the Unlawful (Activities) Prevention, and the way the law is being applied in cases that are related to anything but terrorism. In fact, the trial may fail but the sentence is already served as an undertrial. And in this case, it was no less than the death sentence.
The passing away of the 84-year-old Jesuit priest and tribal rights activist Stan Swamy, who was suffering from multiple ailments and was on ventilator support in a hospital in Mumbai, is an indictment of the Indian State and its agencies which have hounded him for months and failed to provide him the minimum human consideration due to a sick old man.
It would need an impossible stretch of imagination to believe that an 84-year-old sick man who served tribals and Adivasis for decades and had no record of any crime in his life would work for the violent overthrow of the Indian State.
His dire words, that he would “rather suffer, possibly die very shortly, if this were to go on’’, have come true, but he died not because his heart stopped but because of the heartlessness of the State and its institutions and agencies. It is custodial killing and institutional murder, and the State is guilty and culpable of it. He will remain a living question mark on the nation’s conscience.
K.G.Vilop, Chorao
Goa’s share of imported vaccines
India is set to receive 3 to 4 million doses of Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, donated through Covax/WHO in August. People who receive these vaccines are up to 91% less likely to be infected according to a US study.
For whom are these vaccines? There are some very vulnerable people like cancer patients etc. There are people who were advised by GMC to not take the vaccine because they get under the skin clots with slight impact. Does the Expert Committee in Goa, have a ready list of such people and have they sent it to the Centre?
In that case what is Goa’s share of these vaccines? Or will it be like in the case of Oxygen shortages in Goa: 5 hours after the HC directed the Govt. to obtain oxygen from the Centre, Minister Gadkari said that: seeing the situation in Goa regarding oxygen shortages, a tanker will be sent to Goa! The Goa BJP leader who has been sworn in as Governor of HP – congratulations to him – remarked that: ‘Party loyalty and hard work has rewarded him’! Now, people elect the politicians to look after the former’s interests: not so that the latter get rewarded! What do the voters get, is the key issue in a Democracy! Here too, we have to approach the HC?
R Fernandes, Margao
Modi expands his Cabinet
Narendra Modi has expanded his Cabinet. Now it is a truly Janata Cabinet. Among the new inductees barring a few no one is known, either by name or competence. If you look at in balance terms, there is likely to be less balance in the new Cabinet compared to the old one since the weight, professionally, of those dropped seems to be more than all those newly inducted.
Also looks like an exercise for Modi to lord over his Cabinet packing it full with yes-men and yes-women. Also he probably wants to add to his soft image that he has been cultivating after his much publicised dialogue with peacocks – the National Bird, then the Mann ki Baat monologues on radio and now this compulsion to listen to a chorus of Ayes which in time may be set to pleasant, musical tones.
Srinivas Kamat, Alto St. Cruz
Listen now!
This refers to Herald’s exhaustive coverage of the unexpected but suspicious death of Fr Stan Swamy and I say loudly that those who are unwilling to listen they may listen now.
From my past observations the custodial deaths normally occur when there is some secrets involved for which the prisoner if his case based on weak investigation is pursued further and in view of it there is every possibility for the victim to declare as innocent, such custodial deaths occur. These deaths are not natural, they are forcibly imposed on the prisoners by those filing the malicious FIR. On behalf of the FIR filing people, those making bad use of their authority, power and morality take the law into their own hands and declare the innocent victims as guilty when they are not.
In case of Fr Swamy what one can expect from him at the age of 84 to do harm to the State and to society? Secondly, as a priest belonging to the prestigious society of Jesus that was partly responsible to civilize the World thru their missionary activities to make human beings upright in their character, I am sure some of those who were involved in arresting and humiliating Fr Swamy must have been at any time the beneficiaries of Jesuits’ and yet failed to discipline themselves.
No doubt It was nice to see that so much of condemnation have been raised all over India and abroad but sad to state that if these same people had to raise their objections for arresting Fr Swamy earlier, he would not die in this manner. May God forgive the perpetrators of injustice. Meantime, a thorough probe is imperative in this matter.
A.Veronica Fernandes, Candolim
Selfless service by teachers
Students in the far-flung hinterlands of the State have been facing grave challenges with their online classes due to dodgy internet connectivity, many are forced to trek through forests or cross streams to reach higher ground so that they may catch a stray signal or two. Many others who have access to the internet are so poor that they are unable to afford smartphones, computers or data packs. Realising the detrimental effects of forced illiteracy on children some teachers in Sattari taluka have decided to conduct physical classes in the homes of students.
Teachers give the students notes, correct their notebooks either at their homes or at any place in the village where they can gather while at the same time ensuring physical distancing measures. Students are divided into batches and classes are held in temple halls or panchayat ghars. The efforts by such teachers who put service before self deserve our utmost respect and are worthy of emulation.
The State government should launch appropriate schemes to provide smartphones or tablets to students from the lower socio-economic strata and also to reward teachers who go out of their way to ensure that children are not deprived of education due to extraneous challenges.
Rekha Sarin, Benaulim
