In death, you can give life
GMC conducted the first cadaveric kidney transplant owing to which two persons got a new lease of life. A young deceased donor’s kidneys along with his heart, lungs and liver were harvested with the consent of the relatives after he was declared brain dead.Three organs were donated to recipients outside the state and transplanted successfully thus saving three more lives. One person’s death gave new life to five people, what could be a better example of ‘a life (or death) lived for others is a life truly lived and the greatest service to God.’ The family who lost their son still have him living on beyond clinical death in the bodies of five people .This has put focus on organ donation ( it should be termed ‘life donation’) in the country through which thousands of lives can be effortlessly saved.
If you enjoyed reading this article, you can help support our journalism by adding OHeraldo as a preferred source.
As is done in many western countries, organ donation should be mandated compulsory by law with also the provision of opting out if the family so desires. Many patients with critical illnesses expire in the eternal wait for a suitable donor to come forth. Legislation should be promulgated for every individual to carry a donor’s card much in the same way as we carry a driving license or Aadhar card. Relatives of deceased prospective donors should also be counselled on the benefits of organ donation, that way their dear departed shall live on ‘Zindagi ke saath bhi aur zindagi ke baad bhi ‘.
Vinay Dwivedi, Benaulim
Litmus test
Experts use complicated methods to measure a country’s performance. GDP, unemployment, Sensex, Industrial Index, inflation etc. etc. The common man merely reads their analyses unable to comprehend the implications. The Govt. in power knows this and therefore resorts to various methods of feel good slogans, the bogey of a foreign threat, and blaming a previous government flush with success in these areas they now care a hoot for the masses.
There is however a litmus test: fuel price. Presently, the fuel prices are the highest in the last 2 decades! Since 2002, there is a 250% hike in petrol. Diesel/petrol showed a 21%/18% hike from April to December during the pandemic which had no basis for increase. The crude price was actually negative during this time and the increase was merely to ensure the Refineries favoured by the Govt. made up for lost sales in the pandemic.
When the present Government came to power ousting the Congress, the International crude prices dropped: the PM was quick to remark that the Country should look at the same as his good luck! And now? No luck here, just poor governance.
R Fernandes, Margao
Bar political candidates with criminal records
The political parties shouldn’t field candidates with criminal antecedents. Successive judgments to bar criminal candidates from contesting have done little. Researchers have found that such candidates with serious records seem to do well despite their public image, largely due to their ability to finance their own elections and bring substantive resources to their respective parties. Some voters tend to view such candidates through a narrow prism of being able to represent their interests by hook or by crook.
These unhealthy tendencies in the democratic system reflect a poor image of the nature of India’s state institutions and the quality of its elected representatives. Crime and politics should never mix. Citizens need to be more aware and reject these politicians with dubious credentials. Majority of our voters fall for vain, unrealistic and never–to-be-fulfilled promises the politicians eloquently propagate from decorated pulpits. This has become the bane of Indian democracy.
Dr Rajendra Prasad, the India’s first President, had lamented: “The paradox of India is that the Law of the land is made by highly uneducated Representatives of the people in Parliament, and the said Law has to be interpreted by the most learned Judges”.
K.G.Vilop, Chorao
Scrap ZP polls
On December 12 Goa will hold the needless and inconsequential Zilla Panchayat elections. In the midst of this worrisome pandemic with an average of 150 COVI -19 cases being detected daily, the government is endangering the lives of the polling staff and public in general. The over stretched police force which is bracing for next week’s visit by the President of India will be also overburdened with these farcical elections which are ironically being held while Section 144 is invoked in the State. The Government infact ought to have in public interest scrapped this unnecessary idling extra layer of governance and instead vested more powers to the Panchayats. A very small State like Goa does not need these powerless Zilla Panchayats which since its inception having been thirsting for powers.
The cash-strapped Goa Government which is borrowing galore to tide up its expenditure, needs to ensure that every paisa from the State exchequer is very judiciously spent. It is particularly appalling when expenses are recklessly incurred on non-priority areas. It is an irony that the State cries over lack of funds while at the same time we see very glaring unjustified expenditure. Fiscal accountability and responsibility has to be an ongoing sustained process. It is the bounden duty and responsibility of the authorities to work towards restoring Goa back on the road to economic recovery.
For rationalisation in government spending, strong and honest austerity measures need to be taken at all levels with criminal waste of public funds on superfluous expenditure strictly prohibited. Scrapping of the Zilla Panchayats would have been a step in the right direction.
Aires Rodrigues, Ribandar
Non-receipt of pension
This is with regard to the non-receipt of our Senior citizen pension from August /December 2020. Why does the government harass us like this. Do you know as a 75-yr-old pensioner how I am pulling on as this is the only amount I have to pull on the month and adjust it for my expensive medicines and daily bread.
Lord bless the neigbours I borrow and pay them back after 5 months and keep my pockets empty. Please release at least 2 months pension together and update the same.
Hilario Rodrigues, Siolim
Drawing attention towards ‘black spots’
During the monsoon season many of the roads develop large pot-holes due to rains which can cause inconvenience to road-users and can even lead to accidents. In order to draw the attention of the authorities to these pot-holed roads, locals many a times plant saplings in these pot-holes which also serve as a mark of protest.
Now tired of garbage being strewn along roads in different stretches of Benaulim village, it is understood that some locals decided to adopt a novel method to get the message across to the local MLA and the panchayat. Unknown people painted a message on the road saying that the garbage has to be removed as soon as possible. Spots by the roads becoming garbage dumping sites has become a common occurrence in the state.
The waste is usually dumped in the darkness of the night. This garbage dumped by the roadside is overlooked by the authorities which lies there for several days and in no time the area becomes a ‘black spot’. This waste needs to be collected in quick time by the authorities so as to avoid further disposal of garbage at the spot.
Painting on the road with washable paint or putting up a banner in order to draw the attention of the authorities toward the pile of garbage could yield quick results as it also shames the authorities.
Adelmo Fernandes, Vasco
