No gram sabha held in St Estevam
Gram Sabha is what makes the elected representative accountable for the administrative decisions through a consultative process with the voters of the village. The village of Santo Estevam is yearning to have a Gram sabha since the pandemic, the present dispensation has conveniently avoided the Gram sabha citing excuses such as the COVID-19 protocols, and very lately the assembly election code. The people of Santo Estevam village have been plagued with many pressing issues and want to bring them to the table.
It is observed that in spite of having elected members to take up these matters there is no one ready to address these problems. And more over the present dispensation is in the habit of conveniently trying to avoid the Gram Sabha to have an easy way out of the mess that they themselves have created. It is quite evident that the present dispensation is trying to wash off their hands by waiting for the next panchayat election to be held in May 2022. Some of the urgent matters that are waiting to be discussed and deliberated are the last financial years’ accounts, and then there are more issues pertaining to people’s concern that were delayed due to COVID-19.
I would urge the Panchayat Minister to give a strong directive to this panchayat to hold the Gram Sabha at the earliest before the code of conduct for panchayat elections comes into force. As all the earlier directives given by the Director of panchayats and the BDO (Tiswadi) to this panchayat have fallen on deaf ears.
Venan Bonaventure Dias, Santo Estevam
At last, a full Cabinet for Goa
Nothing has been straight in Goan politics, not even the most sacrosanct constitutional processes like the formation and installation of a Government for the good of the people.
A long month after the declaration of the Assembly results, Goa finally has a full cabinet of 12. It must have been a harrowing task for the BJP, to first select the Chief Minister, then the eight Ministers and now those final three. Even the allotment of portfolios has been no easy task with the entire process of government formation remote controlled by the BJP High Command in Delhi.
Within the Congress the situation has been no better, with the Leader of Opposition picked in Delhi whilst by passing and virtually humiliating the senior and experienced Digambar Kamat.
But the pitiable plight of the Curtorim MLA Reginaldo Lourenco is a lesson for future chameleons and roving political frogs. Having lost the race for that promised cabinet berth, despite all his hectic and frantic lobbying and ending up as a hyped disaster, Reginaldo will now have to be content with some BJP charity by way of crumbs as Chairmanship of some Corporation.
Sudin Dhavalikar after having roared all the way that he would be the kingmaker and would not align with the BJP and more particularly would not accept Pramod Sawant as Chief Minister, has had to eat some humble pie and now put himself at the mercy of the BJP and its Chief Minister.
In the 60’s and 70’s, Goa was well governed with just three or four Ministers. Most MLAs travelled on two wheelers and some even used public transport to reach the Legislative Assembly and Secretariat in Panjim. Many became impoverished on becoming MLAs.
Today politics has become a lucrative business and a venture with very rich and enormous dividends. Rags to riches, even in less than one term – has been the norm with that virus having spread all across and infected all over, be it in Assembly, Municipal or Panchayat elections. Quo vadis, our Goa?
Aires Rodrigues, Ribandar
Internet through fibre network
With the aim of improving the Internet connectivity in Goa, the new Minister for Information and Technology has announced that the government will soon take up the initiative of ‘Fibre to Home’ scheme for connecting every household to the Internet through the optical fibre network. Using this connectivity content will be accessible through mobile, computer, TV, etc. and can even be used by cable operators in order to deliver the content.
This is a step in the right direction as the Internet rules our lives in more ways than one. It is prudent to improve the Internet connectivity to schools, colleges and also provide connectivity at public places like bus-stands, market places, courts, buildings that house government offices and such other places so that the general public have easy access to the Internet. Not all may have their mobiles charged with a net-pack. There may even be isolated places where the Internet connectivity is very bad.
It may be recalled that during the pandemic schools were shut and students had to follow online classes. Due to poor connectivity in the villages and remote places, students had to go up the mountain and in the forest in order to get uninterrupted internet connectivity thereby putting their life at risk. It must be said that Internet connectivity has become as essential as water and power connection. Hence the government needs to provide Internet connectivity to the people in the State in a seamless manner.
Adelmo Fernandes, Vasco
Vilifying the judiciary
Pent up frustration over judges being systematically targeted for their judgements especially the ones which go contrary to the ruling dispensation’s position boiled over, with the CJI remarking that even the governments have joined others in maligning judges. Judiciary bashing seems to have become the favourite pastime of activists, liberals and a vast spectrum of aggrieved society but the most inimical observations come from the Sarkar who go hammer and tongs in case of adverse comments or orders. The counsels and the solicitor general representing the government are borderline insolent and exercise least deference to the highest court in the land and its judges when arguing cases.
As with all organs of the governing apparatus like the executive and the legislature, the judiciary has also been acutely undermined, dismantled, it has now been reduced to being a cheerleader of the Saffron Sarkar for the most part.
Vinay Dwivedi, Benaulim
Safe motherhood
Safe motherhood forms the crux of a nation’s socio-economic prosperity. Notwithstanding the fast pace of development of health care and infrastructure in India, maternal mortality rate remains a cause for concern though over the years there has been a welcome drop in the maternal deaths. Death of mother during and after pregnancy, and within six weeks of delivery constitute maternal mortality. Roughly 15 per cent of the worldwide maternal mortality rate, that approximately accounts to 40,000 deaths, comes from India.
Every woman has a right to live and survive pregnancy and childbirth. Care of the mother during pregnancy and lactation is a turning point for a healthy woman and child.
Mindsets of elders and mothers should shift for the better because in spite of having access to skilled institutional deliveries, many households are opting for home deliveries. Proper education and timely awareness programmes could help. Expert or skilled care before, during and after child birth can substantially augment the well-being of a mother and her child. Obviously, during the corona virus pandemic, the healthcare of mother and children was at an all-time low.
It was hard for a woman to undergo all four mandated ante–natal( before birth or during pregnancy) check-ups. Numbers have it that there was a rise in casualties of pregnant mothers over the last two years. As the nation is on a recovery mode, it is time for the healthcare personnel to focus their attention again on maternal and child health.
Ganapathi Bhat, Akola
