Rs153 CRORE CYCLONE TAUKTAE DAMAGES!

An Inter-Ministerial Central Team led by Ashutosh Agnihotri (IAS) is seen here interacting with the Line Department, taking stock of things in the wake of the recent cyclonic storm in Goa at a meeting held at Van Bhavan, Altinho Panaji on June 10, 2021. Also present are Revenue Secretary, Sanjay Kumar( IAS), Dy Director, Ministry of Finance, Shalaka Kujur, Director, Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, RP Singh and Assistant Executive Engineer, Ministry of Road, Transport & Highways, Pranjal Buragohain.The team did an on-the-spot assessment of the situation in Goa. Chief Minister Dr Pramod Sawant was informed that there was a loss of an estimated Rs153 crore and a report to this effect was submitted.

SAVE COVID PATIENTS, NOT GOVERNMENT IMAGE!

IT IS being highlighted in daily newspapers these days that the government wants to do image saving social media PR to portray itself in a good light! However, the daily death toll of covid patients from 20-35 is still a precarious situation and everyone must take utmost precaution – he corona virus is still around manifesting in different variants and strains.
We need to be humane, genuinely interested saving and protecting lives, so many have already been lost due to negligence of the Goa government. People have not forgotten their loved lost ones due to the oxygen shortage crisis in government hospitals, neither chief minister or health minister have even apologised!
And now the government is spending resources on public relations strategies to whitewash its image. What we need is proper covid treatment awareness highlighting precautions, preventive measures, services available, awareness on home isolation and caution in self-medicating in our media instead of government propaganda.
Goans must get regular briefings over television and radio to update people on covid facilities and information about the infection. This pandemic is a health emergency all around more updated information is required. Like the way our politicians campaign aggressive during election time! Can we have this same spirit in saving lives and more accountability?
The government should use innovative ways to channel and divert some government staff from various departments in turns to help out hospitals, PHCs, panchayats and UHCs in delivering care, testing and monitoring of covid patients. At least in the coming months until covid has completely disappeared for people won’t be attending government offices in big numbers – government staff has ample spare time to put to good use, after all they’re all beneficiaries of taxpayers money.
Please come forward and be of some help to the helpless ins society vis-à-vis covid. They need to help already exhausted doctors, nurses and others who have struggled for more than a year and now and now the second wave has completely worn out many of our frontline warriors.
I hope CM and HM are listing and will do more to bring Goa back on line soon without any threats of relapsing anew into curfews and lockdowns.
— Jo Dias, Salcete

ROLLING OUT VACCINES FIRST
I WELCOME the decision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi for procuring vaccines and providing them to the states. This is critical to quick rollout of vaccines. Centralisation of procurement will ensure uniformity of procurement prices and create bandwidth among states to manage inoculation of their adult population.
Making the vaccines available free of cost will go a long way in protecting all citizens and normal economic activities will resume at the earliest. I am glad the PM has retained vaccine procurement of 25% by the private sector and this will enable the industry to contribute to the vaccination drive and target workers better.
CII is also organizing an intensive communication outreach program, including in rural and remote areas, to align with the government’s endeavour to overcome vaccine hesitancy. In addition, CII’s concern and advocacy regarding protecting the poor from loss of livelihood, has been addressed by the PM’s announcement of extending the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana until November 2021 — to ensure free food grain reaches the weaker sections of society.
—Atul V Jadhav, chairperson, CCI Goa State Council
COLLAPSING JUDICIARY?
THE COVID-19 induced disruptions have only further dented the administrations of Justice while adding to the pile up of cases with the backlog of pendency now reaching alarming levels.
As on April 15 this year 67,279 cases were pending in the Supreme Court, 5.75 lakh piled up in High Courts and a mountain of 3.8 crore gathered in the subordinate courts across the country giving a very grim picture of India’s Justice delivery system.
In view of the rising pendency of cases, the number of holidays could possibly be slashed and by ensuring that courts sit for at least six hours a day. In the current pandemic there is no reason why with all the precautions in place courts should not function, hearing just 15 cases in each session. This would help ease the pile up.
The Judiciary seems to be placed beyond the reach of the common man while the influential and wealthy wade their way through. Courts of law can never end up as “temples of surprises,” as every order passed must be based on very sound legal reasoning. Over the decades, there has been a gross failure in administration of the judicial machinery. Many judges highlight all this in their speeches at various
functions but those only remain good to hear while nothing gets done to cure the situation.
Many do not see an end to the litigation in their lifetime as at times it take 15 to 20 years if not more for the legal battle to end. So there is need to identify problems grappling the Judiciary by finding some concrete but practical solutions. The issue of easily obtained and indefinitely lasting stay orders needs to be addressed. Adjournments for the asking must also be done away with. As the years pass, memories fade, witnesses turn hostile and justice becomes meaningless. Widely spaced dates is another problem especially in criminal matters with the under trials in judicial custody denying them their fundamental right to life and liberty.
The problems faced by citizens in their quest for Justice should no longer be ignored. The Supreme Court being the overall court of superintendence needs to invoke its administrative powers to remedy this unacceptable state of affairs. If immediate remedial measures are not put in place the Justice delivery system may sadly collapse under its own weight.
—Aires Rodrigues, Ribandar