Dr Claude Alvares is
Goemcho Rakonndar
The legend of Goan history has it, that every remote place in Goa, especially hills and lakes has its mystic protector who is invisible, yet has his hand in protecting the land. Dr Claude Alvares the founder of the NGO Goa Foundation is the tangible ‘Rakondar’ a true protector and saviour of Goa’s nature and environment.
May God grant him blessings and many more happy and fruitful years to fight for the Goan causes. Viva!
Agnelo Furtado, Chinchinim
P T Usha, a fall
from grace
Yesteryear’s athletic star and the IOA head PT Usha’s statement that the wrestlers protesting on the streets against the erstwhile Wrestling Federation of India (a BJP heavyweight) chief was tarnishing the image of the country and amounted to indiscipline is worthy of condemnation. It does not behove the Payyoli Express to disparage the justified protests of fellow sports persons in the face of repeated and wanton sexual harassment, one would have expected a stellar athlete to have shown better empathy and objectivity towards the plight of her own ilk. It is to be noted that PT Usha, despite her various achievements has not been able to garner one Olympic title for India, while the protesters have fetched Olympic silver and bronze medals by dint of their sheer hard work, perseverance and dedication. I presume there are political compulsions behind PT’s utterances as she does not wish to get the functioning of her athletics academy in Kerala disrupted. It is also distressing to note that except for Abhinav Bindra, Neeraj Chopra, Sania Mirza, Harbhajan Singh and Kapil Dev, no other sports personality has come out in support of the wrestlers. Have we as a nation lost all spine?
Vinay Dwivedi, Benaulim
PT Usha should stop
adding fuel to fire
PT Usha was an athlete herself and a woman in the first place. The protest by the wrestlers is genuine and we must support our athletes if we want our them to succeed and bring glory to the country.
PT Usha was made the Chief of the IOA because of corruption and rot in the sports organisation. By condemning the wrestlers protest, she is belittling the contribution of those who won accolades for the country. Please keep your ego aside and try to find a solution to the problem instead of adding fuel to the fire.
Matias Lobo, Tivim
Maintain traffic
signals regularly
Traffic chaos reigned supreme at the Bolshe roundabout and at the Nehru stadium in Margao with the traffic signals being down and out. This is an issue not only in Margao but at several road junctions across the state where the traffic signals are seen not functioning for several hours and even for days on end. It must be said that traffic signals should be functioning at all times except probably after midnight when the traffic on the road is relatively less. If the traffic signals do not function during rush hour, then the very purpose of installing them is defeated. In the absence of these signals, the scene at the traffic junction can be absolutely chaotic, especially when several roads converge at one junction. Every vehicular driver tries to cross over to another lane in a hurry which leads to total chaos. This can lead to accidents. There should be zero tolerance towards breakdown of traffic signals. The respective civic body should see to it that the agency which has installed the traffic signals should look to its upkeep and maintenance. In the absence of the traffic-signals it becomes absolutely impossible for the police to manage the flow of traffic, especially when several roads converge at a single traffic junction.
Adelmo Fernandes, Vasco
Stalin should
retrospect
While Chief Minister M K Stalin has been earning a very good name for many enviable schemes that are highly beneficial to the people particularly the poor in the past two years of his regime, it is unfortunate that ,of late, he is misled to take some decisions like the 12 hour working hours for the employees schedule and allowing liquor service in marriages, private functions and stadiums where international games are played which have warranted severe opposition from many quarters including the alliance partners of the ruling party. It also tells on the government when they withdraw such decisions, unable to withstand the protests from the stake holders and on a delayed realisation over their hasty decisions.
Looking at the manner in which such mishaps happen frequently, one really wonders whether some of the advisors of the Chief Minister handling such sensitive portfolios are misleading him to do so, with an ulterior motive just to discredit the government!
It is time the Chief Minister took stock of the situation and acted firmly against those ill advisors if he is also convinced of this hunch, lest more damage is done to his name and the credibility of his government.
Tharcius S Fernando, Chennai
Poor plight
of labourers
Every year on May 1, people across the world, including India, celebrate Labour Day as a public holiday. A few arrange get-togethers to enjoy the much needed holiday while others spend it either watching TV, playing games or sleeping all day. The idea is to gain as much from this day as one can – for oneself. But, what no one does is think about what this day truly stands for. Has any of us done something of value for the labour class or tried to resolve their problems?
There are countless problems which are being faced by our labourers such as poverty, illiteracy, food and water crises and so many others. A vast majority of labourers and daily-wage workers remain outside the field of labour laws, which means that workers have no paid holidays, no job security, no medical coverage, no pension, no provident fund, no limit on working hours and are paid no overtime. In India with all this, there is also an issue of child labour. Child labour in India is growing at a disturbing rate. Hundreds and thousands of children struggle to achieve their basic necessities of life. The children suffer from lack of education and health facilities and better employment.
It is important to note that India became a member of the International Labour Organisation right after its independence in 1947. However, there is not much change when one looks at the present situation as there seem to be no labour laws’ implementation. There should be an international monitoring in the country and people should be held accountable who use child labour and bonded labour.
Jubel D’Cruz, Mumbai
Narrative article on
summer holidays
This is with reference, to a recent article on People’s Edit titled ‘Summer Holidays’ by Joseph Lewis D’Silva (O Heraldo, 27 April). It was a very well written piece describing the summer holidays in Goa, the joys of swimming and making sand-castles on the beach, and more importantly – the traditional dances of waltz and foxtrot as what characterises the true spirit of exuberant Goa! I could vividly feel and relive the experiences that I have every time I come to Goa on a holiday for the winter break, and really miss it a lot.
It’s very rare to come across such well-penned down pieces on the local daily, amidst all the chaos of the current world and era we live in, and hope to see more of these reads in the future.
Bryce de Souza, by email
