Voting secrecy violated; will the EC take note?
In the just concluded Goa assembly election 2022 it has been confirmed and facts have come to light that there were lot of violations that occurred in this elections. First and foremost a voter producing a photo or showing a video from the voting compartment and proving that his vote was cast for a particular candidate was monetarily compensated.
Again another transgression that occurred was if any government servant and personal on election duty and who had the option of postal ballot if they showed to the candidate or sometime forced by the candidate to show and vote for him or her were also monetarily gratified. Even surprisingly some voters where compensated for not voting if the candidate doubted the voters sincerity and felt that the voter belonged to the rival camp.
Therefore it is felt that the election commission should in future intervene and take effective steps to negate such violations which are a blot on the democracy and prevent such incidents.
Filastro Cardozo, Varca
Looting passengers at Dabolim airport
As a Goan I feel ashamed of how the government is looting its citizens at Goa international airport. What’s been happening these past few days.
As per central guidelines international passengers to be tested for Covid at random (2% on the flight). However, Goa Airport is forcing all arriving passengers to take the test. I understand Goa is concerned about the positivity rate and has taken its own steps to curb the situation. The test at airport is at an absurd price of Rs 1,500.
I simply can’t wrap my head around as to why someone needs to pay Rs 1,500 for a Rapid test at this point of time of the pandemic. International passengers that are coming via Mumbai/Delhi are not undergoing any test at international port entry and enter Goa as domestic passengers on connecting flights.
So what is the point of this test? Is it another way of squeezing money from people in the name of Covid protocols?
Devin Martins, by email
United politicians, divided people
If we think about it most Indian politicians irrespective of the political party, remain united, even if they are in the opposing camps. Their unity may sometimes not be discernible to us especially during the election times and in India there is no dearth of elections, right from the village to the parliament levels.
The politicians remain united when their salary and perks are to be increased, discreetly protect each other in case of scams and major crimes, when they want to govern in coalition forgetting their differences and foul words that they had used against one other. They marry or get their kids married across religions, sent their kids to English medium schools and abroad for further studies and so forth. But when it comes to the citizens all such issues are taboo and should be avoided.
They tend to divide the citizens in the name of religion, caste, colour, creed, and other issues. Indian politicians find it easy to rake up some nonsensical matter due to her multifaceted characteristics such as cultures, religions, and languages. A minor matter is blown up by their followers and goons and results in chaos and uneasy calm amongst the citizens. Left to themselves, people want to eke out a living, go on with their lives, and follow the principle of ‘live and let live,’ but are not allowed to do so peacefully.
The politicians fight their battles by keeping their guns on our fragile shoulders and while they remain safe, we go to war with our own people and end up losing lives, properties and friendships.
Sridhar D’Iyer, Caranzalem
Renaming Goan Carnival as Goencho Intruz
The three-day Carnival festivities will kick start in the State on February 26. More than 50 countries celebrate their own Carnival traditions that are unique to their customs. In the past Goa too used to celebrate the festivities in its own way depicting its culture. This included the “Intruz” which was the traditional way of celebrating Carnival. But over the years Carnival became commercialised and the float parade became the centre of attraction.
The glorious traditions of the State need to be showcased once again during the three-day event. In the past merry-makers used to roam the streets with men dressed as women and the youngsters used to throw powder and water balloons on each other. They used to shoot each other with pea-shooters (fotash). All these activities need to be revived.
‘Zolminivello khell tiatr’ are concerts held on the ground without any stage settings and need to be revived. This was very popular in the villages and used to draw large crowds. Then there is the age-old ‘Alvorado’ which is music played by locals in Goa at the crack of dawn in order to herald the good times to come during carnival. This musical show also needs to be revived in the cities and the villages. The float parade also needs to give more stress on the traditional activities of Goans like farming, fishing, making of Feni and other such traditions. Goan Carnival needs to promote “Goenkarponn”. It would be in the fitness of things to rename ‘Goan Carnival’ to “Goencho Intruz”.
Adelmo Fernandes, Vasco
Relax Covid-19 norms during travelling
After the brutal initial waves of Covid-19, it is a welcome relief that the third wave or the “Omicron wave” has not caused much damage to the population. Following initial tightening of the now all familiar Covid related restrictions, most States have opened up.
As confidence building measures, restaurants, theatres and malls have opened doors to the patrons almost to their capacity. Others are on their way. Very importantly, children are back to where they belong: the schools. However, one other aspect that pertains to Covid curb seems to have been ignored by the States. Domestic interstate travellers are a harrowed lot due to the continuation of restrictions between states. In the preceding Covid waves, many states had a few regulations that remained on paper in the latter part.
Now, some States have done away with all restrictions while some have part of those. A pre-departure negative RT-PCR is a must at many States’ airports. Certain states are okay with a full vaccination status to be presented before boarding flights. Rail and road travellers are expected to comply with the regulations of the State that they wish to enter. One is hard put to fathom the necessity of any type of quarantine for interstate visitors.
The Centre, on its part, has done well to ask the States to do away with all unnecessary restrictions that may impair smooth tourist flow across states. It is high time most of the road, rail and air checks on Covid 19 are discontinued for the sake of the common man.
Ganapathi Bhat, Akola
Vaccinate children under 14 yrs
In the letter dated September 14 2021 ‘Work for safety of our children’ it was mentioned that under 18 yrs children should be vaccinated and bravo our children under 18 yrs were vaccinated. But now the education department has plans to start school for children from 1st to eighth graders but frankly speaking after one or two months the schools will be closed for vacation. And children under 15 yrs aren’t vaccinated.
The children which fall in this criteria are children from standard first to eighth. I would like to repeat myself once again please vaccinate this children under 14 yrs old and humble request for the education department and the schools please begin the schools in the new academic year which starts from June.
Anita Fernandes, Verna
