When will Cong declare candidates?
Congress is yet to declare its candidates for the coming election in Goa. Who are they? Congress was partly responsible to field the type of Aya Rams and Gaya Rams because under Indira Gandhi’s leadership Congress encouraged defection because by all means Congress wanted to enjoy the majority. Hence, Congress made a farce of our electoral system. If Congress wanted a clean electoral process it would surely bring in amendment to make the defection more rigid but no, Congress failed to do this and is suffering now.
If you enjoyed reading this article, you can help support our journalism by adding OHeraldo as a preferred source.
I am more interested in my Constituency Calangute where I have no, neither thousands like me who will be its contestant for the coming election. The supporters have all the rights to know what is cooking in the Congress kitchen, Congress got no right to keep its supporters into darkness and at the last minute bring any Ladru-Pedru of its choice and dump him on the heads of its voters. No Congress voter will accept this trend of Congress to impose its candidate in their Constituency selected by its coterie without the approval of the supporters. As per the mood of the people, they want their representative to be a humble educated man who is experienced in serving the public causes and not a proud whose contribution in the service of the people in his constituency is praiseworthy.
A Veronica Fernandes, Candolim
Kidnapping of minors
A 16-year-old girl attempted suicide after she was kidnapped and raped in a car. Porvorim police have reportedly arrested the accused. In another instance a 15-year-old girl was kidnapped by an unknown person from her house in Margao. Based on a complaint lodged by her father, offences under Section 363, for kidnapping and Section 8 of Goa children’s act have reportedly been registered by the Margao police.
It must be said that kidnapping of minor girls have been taking place at a disturbing frequency in the State. Some of the reasons why a stranger might kidnap a child include extortion to elicit a ransom from the parents for the child’s return, illegal adoption wherein a stranger steals a child with the intent to rear the child as their own or to sell to a prospective adoptive parent.
In several instances the kidnapper is known to the victim or there is involvement of a person known to the family like domestic help, friends, or tenants who had tipped off the kidnappers. It is the duty of the parents to guard their children from the possibility of being kidnapped. Parents need to set boundaries about the places where their kids can go and keep a tag on their movement.
Adelmo Fernandes, Vasco
Results required, not false promises
Setting a deadline to complete a work is good but working with a plan and putting in the required effort to meet that deadline are more important. Likewise, claiming credit for completing a project or inaugurating it after completion is quite okay but doing this before it is complete is totally wrong.
There are many examples to show that the government of Goa has made a habit of such things. The inauguration of the third Mandovi bridge before completion and declaring that the State has become open defecation free are just two of them. So far as deadlines are concerned, the CM’s emphatic statement that not a single pothole on the roads of Goa will remain unrepaired after Nov 1 has proved wrong.
The government should desist from such practices since they not only erode its credibility but it also loses the faith of the people. People are interested in concrete results, not false promises or tomfoolery.
Rodney de Souza, Assagao
Tired of Acche din, people want sacche din
LPG prices have soared in the country. Distressed families are stating that amid the crisis of prices shooting up, they can survive without petrol or diesel in their vehicles but not without buying an LPG cylinder. The increase in LPG price has already forced crores of poor Indian households to stop using gas cylinders and instead go back to traditional options that are far more harmful sources like cow dung, crop residue and wood for cooking, as LPG prices are now out of their reach.
The beneficiaries have stopped receiving direct cash subsidies that they got earlier for refilling cooking gas cylinders. The woes of the common man have been multiplying everyday with each passing day, the prices of essential commodities are going up without any regulation, making daily life more expensive like never before. Centre says that crude oil prices have increased internationally. But in 2014 it was 105 US dollars and now its 83 US dollars. This is a very unfortunate situation. People are asking Acche din kab ayenge?
K G Vilop, Chorao
Teach children to read
The ‘Reading should always be in vogue’ (Herald, November 8) was apt against the backdrop of the situation prevailing in the world today. Yes very rightly quoted, “A book is a gift one can open again and again”.
Those of us who are adults, especially senior citizens would definitely vouch for this. The habit of reading has been inculcated in us from a very young age and we would have patience to read magazines, newspapers, even fat volumes of novels, etc.
Today, in view of the pandemic, one shudders to think of the future of those children who have lost their very foundation in education. Leave alone the question of reading, it is believed that these children do not even know how to handle a pencil or pen.
Recently, a WhatsApp message has been in circulation – a cartoon portraying a mother and a child with a book in hand, and the mother is telling him, “it’s called reading. It’s how people install new software in their brains!”.
Today’s younger generation may be reading on mobiles or tablets but I doubt if they have the patience to read large content.
The media today is offering snippets on the electronic media to cater to the needs of today’s generation.
At the end of the day, there is no doubt that the joy of reading knows no bounds. It is a joy to hold a book or a newspaper or a magazine in hand, and read. I like the statement which says, reading is an investment that pays rich dividends in life!
Melville X D’Souza, Mumbai
Please reopen schools soon
This is with reference to Herald’s news item dated November 07, 2021 titled “No Decisions on Reopening Schools for Classes V to VIII”. It is imperative to note that COVID-19 is here to stay. We all must always wear masks and practise social distancing. Goa’s COVID-19 vaccination programme is one of the best across India thanks to the yeoman service provided by Goa’s frontline COVID-19 warriors of whom entire State is immensely proud.
Having said this, children are bored and are experiencing feelings of worthlessness. They are our future. We cannot afford to neglect our children by robbing them of a once-in-a-lifetime experience of attending physical classes at school. This important experience prepares children for the future challenges. And moreover, nothing can replace the effectiveness of in-class learning.
The esteemed Task Force on COVID-19 must hold a meeting soon and after weighing all the pros and cons rule in favour of reopening of the schools with immediate effect.
It is high time the Generation Next learns to accept and live with COVID-19. A virus cannot be allowed to hold our future to ransom for close to two yours.
Gafaar Shaqoor, Margao
