PANJIM: Bharatiya Bhasha Suraksha Manch (BBSM) on Thursday revisited the protest that had paralysed the State on July 31 by staging a one-day protest asking that the government take strict action against the group that had blocked road on that day.
Over 100 people gathered at Panjim ferry wharf and walked to Azad Maidan where members of the manch discussed their demand to stop government grants to English medium schools among a list of other demands.
“We had given the government till October 2 but they didn’t do anything about it. They didn’t take any action when parents decided to block roads in the State, why is the government supporting them?” said Subhash Velingkar.
He emphasized on the need for the government to withdraw grants to English medium schools and give more preference to Marathi and Konkani medium schools.
Revealing statistics, Velingkar said that for the current academic year, of the 15 applications for Marathi and Konkani medium schools, the government had approved only four schools.
The demands of the manch include release of maintenance grant to Marathi and Konkani medium schools and scraping the mapping of schools, which they claim has been misused in the case of a particular medium.
Members of the manch pointed to political motivation and said that education in Goa was not important to the current government.
“The government needs to work for the people. If the government doesn’t keep its promises or words, they become nothing but a gang of liars. While dhirios, drugs and casinos are given preference, education takes a back seat. This is why Goa will not succeed,” said writer and advocate Uday Bhembre.
The manch also urged the government to give them grants of Rs 10 lakh for Marathi schools and Rs 1 lakh each year for maintenance.
BBSM had written to the chief minister on their demands giving the government up to October 2 and then decided to go ahead with the protest when there was no response from the government.
