‘Agnipath’ on fire
Unfortunately, the Centre’s Agnipath short-term recruitment scheme for the armed forces has run into rough weather. Violent protesters vandalised public and private property in many states. As a result, the Railways cancelled as many as 34 trains. The Opposition, too, joined the chorus, forcing the government to backpedal and empower Defence Minister Rajnath Singh to change the scheme without seeking the Cabinet’s concurrence. Besides, the Centre raised the upper age limit for the scheme to 23 years late on Thursday to compensate for the lack of hiring in the last two years.
NJ Ravi Chander, Bengaluru
Velim in green mode initiative
Community farming may look simple as it reads. But a step in the right direction with overwhelmingly support by the government, the group of small and marginal farmers who have come forward and initiated by the President of comunidade of Chinchinim Agnelo Furtado and supported by Velim MLA Cruz Silva makes the project fertile. Imagine, around the size of 170 hectares of land will be brought under paddy cultivation by working hand in hand together to utilize the cultivable fallow lands to earn their livelihoods and make Goa look green on the whole. It is important to learn that community farming has huge value in helping to control environmental pollution, improving physical activity, producing in nutrition that builds healthy living, improves the relations with neighbourhood and gives economical growth to the farmers, thus making the stakeholders proud. If you look back few decades ago, Goa’s paddy farming was lush green with such initiatives the future is definitely bright again. Goans nowadays are becoming aware of the fact that the food they eat is highly exposed to chemicals and is potentially carcinogenic. Not anymore, when they will sow their own seeds and reap healthy produce. As the famous quotes reads “We must feel proud to cultivate our own farm. When man was put in the garden of Eden he was put there so that he should work, which proves that man was not born to rest.”
Gaston Dias, Sarzora
The changing Taleigao
A lot of Goa has suffered immensely on account of that unending political greed. One glaring example is Taleigao on the outskirts of Panjim which till that lust of enforced urbanization, land use change and real estate conjecture bulldozed on the farming community was a model of a very sustainable rural agricultural economy.
Taleigao once benefited by the rich and fertile silt deposited by Mandovi estuary and the fertile farms yielded many crops while history will bear testimony that their land was never ever left uncultivated. The farmers of Taleigao used to cultivate 40 different types of crops that being their one and only source of income. Today the stinking sewage from those concrete monsters flows into the fields while those in power merrily look the other way. Farming and fishing were main businesses in Taleigao with the Odxel tribal fishing hamlet yielding bountiful catches. A large variety of vegetables were grown by those farmers using micro irrigation techniques. Taleigao was in fact the food basket of Tiswadi. All that produce thronged the market supporting thousands of families without any government backing. It saw prosperity based on agro economy and what survives now are just fragments of the old system as the entire village has been converted into a suburb of Panjim with eyesore and polluting constructions. Today factually the low lying parts of Taleigao ecologically face a bleak future as the ancient drainage system has been destroyed and the rise in sea level may soon submerge the area right from St Michael Church to Kamrabhat Tonca and all those monstrous concrete structures would not be worth a dime.
Aires Rodrigues, Ribandar
Abolish widowhood customs
Following the example of Dhargalim and Corgao, Loliem-Pollem village panchayat has reportedly unanimously resolved to honour the widows on par with married women. The resolution has appealed to stop the ongoing unjust customs practiced in the society in case of widows. This is being done in response to the ongoing-statewide movement started to stop discrimination and ill-treatment meted out to the widows. Women are shunned from society when their husbands die, not for religious reasons, but because of tradition and probably because they’re seen as a financial drain on their families. Widows tend to face many difficulties and deprivations because of negative social attitudes towards them and social restrictions that are placed upon them and their activities. They are subject to patriarchal customs. The conduct towards them can be extremely unjust and even sadistic. Many suffer abuse and exploitation at the hands of family members. It may not be sufficient for the various village panchayats in the state to pass a resolution to honour widows on par with married women. It is an issue facing all the widows in the state. Hence, the state government needs to contemplate on drafting a legislation abolishing widowhood custom. For reforms on abolishing widowhood customs to have a wide reaching impact, the government has to play a major role. There also needs to be a helpline for reporting instances of widowhood customs being practiced.
Adelmo Fernandes, Vasco
Violence will not yield anything
It is really unfortunate to see so much of violence happening in the various protests connected to different issues in the various corners of our nation. The protests against Agnipath recruitment scheme is the latest one and it is really heart breaking to see bloody violence, arson, clashes and conflicts happening in the name of protests. Be it the Agnipath protests, protests connected to comments on prophet Muhammed, the Kerala gold scam protests, ED questioning Rahul Gandhi – what one is able to see is just clashes and conflicts occurring at the drop of a hat. Violence is not going to yield any good result. Our heads have to hang in shame. In a land where the greatest of apostle of peace was born it seems his people have completely forgotten that. Gandhiji’s principles and ideals paved way for a nation and it is people to un-harness themselves from a powerful empire. And to get freedom, the Mahatma did not instigate his people to follow the path of violence and crooked ways but plain non-violence, truth and tolerance. There is a lot of difference between the generation the great Mahatma led and that of today’s. Even though most of the people of that era were poor, less educated and unemployed they did not resort to unwanted arson, clashes and conflicts and the credit for that goes to the leaders who were committed to the cause, dedicated to their motherland, transparent to the core and duty bound to see that they worked along with the followers teaching them the right way to attain whatever the aim be. Today we have the so called “leaders” seated in their air-conditioned suites watching arsons and clashes live on television and remote controlling the activities done by their well fed mobs. They are neither seen along with the followers nor do they in reality feel the heat of the conflicts.
Poor people, especially the youth are just taken for a ride. They are completely misguided, instigated, incited and brainwashed to the core only for these pseudo leaders to achieve their aims and for their selfish motives. We the citizens of a beautiful nation rich in its culture and heritage must truly introspect ourselves, analyse the matters in deep and choose the right. Let us also not forget the Mahatmas thought provoking word’s-be the change you wish to see in the world.
M Pradyu, Kannur
