Goa needs full time governor
When the President of India Ram Nath Kovind visits Goa next week on Liberation Day he should please tell us the reasons for the delay in appointing a full time Governor for our State. Since August 19 this year the Governor of Maharashtra Bhagat Singh Koshyari is holding additional charge of Goa. It does not augur well that for four months a Governor has not been appointed for Goa.
In terms of Articles 155 and 156 of our Constitution the Governor of a State is appointed by the President of India and is answerable to him while holding office during the pleasure of the President. The post of Governor is of immense significance. Being the head of the State, all the executive actions are taken in the Governor’s name. The role of the Governor is very important and as Chief Executive of the State he has Executive, Legislative, Judicial, Financial and Discretionary powers that if exercised judiciously and with integrity could ensure the smooth good governance of the State.
Goa is enveloped with so many crucial issues, including Mhadei and Mining. The deteriorating law and order is a matter of concern while the economy is in crisis. People of the State and the youth in particular are agitating across the State against projects that are not in the interest of the State and the environment.
Unfortunately our former Governor Satya Pal Malik was suddenly shunted out for being very proactive and outspoken who refused to be a rubber stamp. He behaved impeccably and knowledgeably in the best interests of our people and the State.
The people of Goa and the State deserve and expect to be taken seriously and treated with respect. They merit proper full time Governance to overcome the hurdles of poor Governance that has stagnated its growth and progress.
Goa expects a full time Governor who will govern with integrity and clarity in the best interests of the State and its people.
Aires Rodrigues, Ribandar
Which is BJP’s B-Team?
Trajano D’Mello and Francisco Sardinha, from the Congress, are wont in calling AAP BJP’s B-Team. I do not know with what face and authority they do it. Trajano is a jumping jack changing parties more frequently than one changes one’s clothes. Sardinha has an experience of having been the B-Team of BJP, with whom he formed and ran a government till he was shown the door by the real A-Team.
Congress, which had 17 MLAs, handed over the government on a platter to BJP, which had just 13, and, when non-BJP members of the coalition were proving knotty, it exported first 2 and then 10 of its own, thus strengthening the BJP government and proving itself to be BJP’s real B-Team.
The devastating projects which the BJP government is implementing with a vengeance, are all the brain-children of Congress and there is no point in crying over the spilt milk of the expected cuts.
And what did the Congress do to protect Goa’s interests in the Mhadei, during its long-lasting governments under the Chief Minister, who was imported from the MGP, whose ‘mavaddo’ is in Karnataka and whose son, having ditched the Congress twice, has gone to strengthen the BJP.
Mousinho de Ataide, Saligao
Employ youth to increase economy
We are witnessing a growing number of agitations throughout Goa. We see the protests in Melauli, so also in Mollem. We see people voicing their opposition to the destruction of nature vis-a-vis to coal and the river Mhadei. The protests are not just a recent happening.
Earlier during the tenure of the other party, there were protests against illegal mining and the casinos. What is quite pertinent is that people are unhappy, no matter which party rules. Thus, the onus lies with the political leaders to give a transparent administration. Goa has a high density of IT professionals.
It would have been wonderful if our leaders focused on developing the necessary IT infrastructure to generate IT employment. It would have also revived our failing economy. The world now-a-days also believes in generating clean renewable energy from solar, wind and tidal sources. The renewable energy sector also creates bumper jobs.
Our youth would definitely have been benefitted if our leaders thought wisely. Agritourism and dairy farming would also have significantly contributed to our sagging economy, besides maintaining a healthy environmental footprint. Let us implore God to give us the graces to sincerely seek the good for everyone.
Newton Mendonca, by email
Water scarcity in Goa is unbelievable
Protests over lack of water supply though sporadic previously are now witnessed regularly across the State. Frustrated with water shortage in Mapusa and adjoining areas recently, locals banging pots and pans resorted to a sit-in at the PWD office only to find that the concerned officials were absent and there was no one to attend to their woes.
Residents of Morod, Feira Alta and Ansabhat have been receiving intermittent supply, that too only on alternate days for quite a while now. Saligao and Siolim villagers have been depending on water tankers (and they charge a bomb) for the past month. The less said about the water situation in the hinterland the better.
It is distressing to note this kind of artificial water scarcity created by mismanagement of resources in a State which has eleven perennial rivers flowing through it. The government should fix this state of affairs on priority before embarking on grandiose schemes like ‘ Smart city’, ‘Digital India’, ‘Swampoorn Goa’ etc. Political rhetoric and empty slogans like ‘har ghar nal, har ghar jal’ won’t solve the problem, you have to put your head down to set things right, water is the most basic of necessities, more important than roti, kapda aur makaan.
Vinay Dwivedi, Benaulim
