Implement national policy for farmers, demands GXE

MARGAO, OCT 16
The Goenchea Xetkarancho Ekvott has implored upon all Goans to face the biggest challenge of protecting agricultural resources and demanded that the government play a leading role by reversing the unsustainable policies of yesteryears.
Members of the GXE on Saturday observed World Food Day near the district hospital under construction at Ambaji-Fatorda and demanded that the government implement the National policy for Farmers 2007 overdue for the last three years.
GXE general secretary Paul Fernandes said the tiny state of Goa, which is being unscrupulously sold for real estate, mines, industrial estates and other speculative and unsustainable land uses, is on the verge of collapse of its food and water security systems. “In Goa, there is an urgent need for introspection among the decision makers as well as the people. The state of Goa is blessed with heavy rains and the precipitation is trapped in the forests and the coastal wetlands to give Goa the ability to sustain a large population in self sufficient village”, he added.
Saying that the state has lost forever precious water resources due to mining activities in the extremely sensitive western ghats, he said that real estate and starred tourism have changed pristine coastal villages into environmental time-bombs. “The government has also done its bit in many ways to hasten the doom, especially by ensuring that all government projects are planned in prime paddy fields being cultivated by poor ST and other farmers for centuries”, he added.