REVOLT: Former Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar, who lost the 2017 election to Dayanand Sopte, has demanded a ticket to contest the 2022 Assembly polls, he is keen on becoming the chief minister of Goa again.

BY RAJAN NARAYAN

AND a few stray thoughts for yet another Saturday. For a Saturday following the week when the `Wall Street Journal,’ keeps reminding us that it is algorithms which are controlling our lives. For a Saturday following the week when children from the age of three are part of the educational system. For a Saturday following the week when former chief minister, Laxmikant Parsekar, insisted that the BJP should give him a ticket to contest the coming general elections to the State Assembly. For a Saturday following the week when even though the number of positive cases and deaths are falling, there are renewed concerns about the new delta variant plus.

CONTROL OF LOGRITHMS

AND a few stray thoughts on the `Wall Street Journal’ constantly reminding us that our lives have been taken over by the social media. It is not just the fact that the social media influences what we think and what we like and dislike but even worse, the fact that these choices are made not by human beings but by robots. All the social media companies ranging from Facebook to Twitter and WhatsApp have an army of robots which are programmed to influence what you should buy and whom you should vote for in an election in any country in the world. This robots are programmed by a mathematical equations called the algorithms.
It is this equation which prompts not just thousands but millions of posts in favour of a particular product or political party or even your emotions towards communities and countries. When you use any social media platform you are sacrificing you privacy. From the post you make the social media platform knows where you stay and in which country. Depending on what you post the social media companies know what you like and what you dislike. The companies know which party you favour. They know whether you are a supporter of Narendra Modi or Mamata Banerjee. Which is why experts who were aware of how much information the social network collects from you activity on their sites, have started coaching classes.

HIDE YOUR IDENTITY

THE first lesson in this coaching classes is that in the case of posting on Facebook or Twitter or any of the other social sites, it is not only okay to tell lies but necessary not to reveal all the facts about yourself. The experts advise you not to give your real name or real location or post your real likes and your real feelings on social media. We have seen for ourselves what the consequences of being totally honest on Facebook or Twitter can be.
There have been hundreds of people who have been arrested by politicians in power like Narendra Modi, because you have expressed a dislike for him and his policies. Every country and every State in the State of India does not want to disclose the actual number of covid-19 cases and fatalities. This is because it reflects badly on their management of the covid-19 pandemic.
Independent audits have revealed that the number of deaths have been much more then officially admitted. For instance, the fact that as many as a lakh of the tests done on pilgrims who participated in the Kumbh Mela were false and this was exposed only recently. This kind of cheating is not limited to mega events like the Kumbh Mela. In Mumbai it has been recently discovered that in a group of very posh gated colonies in Powai near the IIT, the lab to whom the vaccinations was subcontracted, injected the residents with distilled water. The Hiranandani complex where this happened (similar to our Ocean Park housing complex) is built by the family of a leading Dr LH Hiranandani (Indian otorhinolaryngologist that is head and neck surgeon, social activist, philanthropist) in Mumbai.
The social network of course is not necessarily evil. It has also contributed in a significant manner towards bringing about laudable changes. It was social media which triggered the Arab Spring which saw many corrupt governments in the Gulf and the Arab world overthrown by protestors. Social media is the only option for people in countries like China where the government does not share any information with its people. It is because of social media that the world came to know that the Uighur Muslims were kept in tightly controlled separate colonies in Xinjiang district in China.
It was social media which brought out the persecution of the Rohingya Muslim population in Myanmar in Burma. The worst part of social media companies is that there is that they are no controls over them. They are motivated not by your welfare but the amount of money they can make.
In the case of newspapers and television networks there is accountability. In case of Facebook and Twitter there is none and anyone can post anything. Though they all claim to have fact checking systems, the interpretation of what is true or fake depends on the self-interest of the company and who pays them how much. So the Telecom ministry is right in demanding accountability on the part of social media.
Which means if the government or any official law agency asks them the origins of a post they have to disclose it to the government. But the bigger risk is that the government may misuse this information exhorted from social media. Perhaps like the United Nations, we need a global organisation to keep a strict eye on mega social media companies.

NO PLAY FOR KIDS

AND a few stray thoughts on the Central Education Ministry starting the implementation of the New Education Policy (NEP). Absurdly enough it has chosen a time when children are not even able to attend classes due to covid-19. Surely they could have waited till all the lockdowns were lifted from all over the country before implementing the New Education Policy? Under the NEP formal education, which earlier used to start at the age of five, will now begin at age three years.
Mothers, particularly working mothers, will be happy as this will give them some time for themselves. Unfortunately, it is covid-19 times and to the contrary the New Education Policy will impose a bigger burden on parents. If you have four children can you afford to buy four smart phones or four laptops or will the kids have to share and fight over one piece?
When there was no covid-19 the beginning of education was an opportunity for children to socialise and learn to live in a larger community. There were extra-curricular activities so that children would learn more than A for apple. Under the present circumstance they cannot even be taken for an excursion to see what an apple tree looks like. Perhaps it is the fact that polls are approaching in Goa that has motivated the State government to enforce the New Education Policy. Under the New Education Policy all the crèches and play schools will vanish.
Instead, at the age of three, the child will have to be admitted to a registered nursery. Between the age group of four and five years the child will attend KG1 and KG2. Between six and seven years the child will be admitted to class I or II. There will be a preparatory stage called upper primary for children in the age group of eight to ten years which will include classes III-V.
This will be followed by middle school which will be from V-XIII. The last stage of the school education will consist of higher education for 14-17 years age group, culminating in the present higher secondary exams in class 12. The problem with the New Education Policy is that the child will not be able to spend quality time with parents up to the age of five years which was the minimum admission age earlier for first standard.
The implementation of the New Education Policy during covid-19 times raises other issues. Going by the decision of the Central government to take into consideration the performance in the various semesters in the 10th and 11th standard for the Higher Secondary School exam may be a good step forward. In all institutions of higher learning like the IITs and the IIAMs, there is continuous evaluation of the students’ performance. Unlike in the present school system where kids can fool around for the entire year and mug up one month before the exam and secure high marks.
The problem of course is infrastructure. Photographs have been appearing of Rotary clubs distributing chairs, tables and library furniture, to government schools. It would have been more useful if they had distributed Internet connections and laptops for the children so that would really be able to benefit from e-learning. The Central Education Ministry has to pay special attention to standardising e-learning and train the teachers, so that they are able to perform their duties and make sure that there is no dilution in the standard of education.

INFIGHTING WITH BJP

AND a few stray thoughts on the challenge flung by the former chief minister of Goa, Laxmikant Parsekar. Parsekar, in the fear that the BJP might not give him a ticket, has declared that he will fight the next Assembly election. It is obvious from Parsekar’s statement that not only does he want to contest the Assembly election, but also sees himself as the best choice for the chief minister’s seat. That is if the BJP gets a majority in the forthcoming Assembly elections.
It may be recalled that when the late Manohar Parrikar shifted to New Delhi to take up the post of Defence Minister, it was Lakmikant Parsekar who was appointed the CM by the party’s High Command. Parsekar, in fact, was expecting that after the death of Manohar Parrikar, he would again be appointed to occupy the CM’s post. It came as a shock to many of the senior BJP leaders that Pramod Sawant, was appointed as the new CM of Goa. Unfortunately for Parsekar and other senior BJP leaders most of them lost in the last Assembly elections.
Parsekar was not even given a ticket to contest for Mandrem. This was perhaps taken as a sign that Parsekar is not a candidate who can lead the party to victory in the forthcoming elections. Indeed, the performance of the BJP in 2017 was the worst ever with the party able to get only 13 seats. Even of the 13 seats most of the winning candidates were Catholics to whom Parrikar had given tickets. Historically, Mandrem constituency to which Parsekar has staked a claim, has been an MGP stronghold. More specifically and on more than two occasion it was Ramakant Khalap who won the Mandrem seat.
In the 2017 elections the seat went to Dayanand Sopte. This may have been because Laxmikant Parsekar had changed many policies initiated by Manohar Parrikar and had lost the confidence of the kingmaker Parrikar. Just to give one example, it was Parsekar who restored the taxes on petrol which Parrikar had abolished when he was the chief minister.

BABUSH WANTS CM KODEL

THE greatest fear among the BJP is that Babush Monserrate will stake his claim to be made the chief minister if the BJP wins the election. While Babush can do without the BJP, the BJP is totally dependent on Babush. When there is revolt against the BJP on the appointment of Pramod Sawant as Chief minister, it was Babush who came to the help of the party.
Babush saved the BJP from being voted out of power by persuading then Congress MLAs to merged with the BJP. These Congress MLAs will remain loyal to Babush even if they are disqualified. The biggest mistake the BJP did was to expel Subhash Velingkar from the post of president of the RSS in Goa. It was Velingkar who built up the RSS (the backbone of BJP) and groomed Manohar Parrikar to be the chief minister of the BJP when it came to power. But they fell out because Parrikar became too arrogant and stopped consulting the RSS.
The BJP in Goa will also suffer from the impact of the loss of credibility of their top leaders Narendra Modi and Amit Shah. The top leaders have been blamed for becoming complacent and not anticipating and taking steps to prevent the second wave of covid-19 which claimed many more lives than the first wave.
Similarly in Goa, Pramod Sawant is blamed by the party and in fact all Goans who are permitting tourists to come into Goa freely and delaying imposition of curfew and necessary restrictions. The only advantage the BJP enjoys is that the Congress has an equally divided between the Luizinho Faleiro and Digambar Kamat groups.
There was so much hostility that there was a physical fight before the High Command Observer Dinesh Gundu Rao by supporters of Girish Chodankar, who was expected to be sacked from the post of president of the Goa Pradesh Congress Committee.

DELTA PLUS THREAT

AND a last stray thought on fears of the third wave of covid-19 expected to target children. While these claims have been dismissed as fear-mongering by international experts, it is admitted that teenagers could be affected. Children below 10 years of age are believed to have natural immunity against the infection.
But the bigger fear comes from the new Delta plus variant which had spread to 80 countries around the world. The Delta Plus, which it is claimed is resistant to the existing vaccines and even the Trump Cocktail, has surfaced in many states in India. It has delayed plans in the UK to lift lockdown curbs.
Goa is waiting in suspense as some suspected Delta Plus cases have been send to Virology Lab in Pune for testing but the results are awaited. If the Delta Plus gains entry into Goa it could trigger the much feared third wave. As it is the unlocking is creating fears of a fresh spike in the number of positive cases.
For almost a week the deaths were below ten but they shot up again to two digits on June 22, 2021 with 11 cases. What is disturbing is that patients are dying in private nursing homes where the government has taken 50% of the beds and even in the corporate hospitals. The additional fear is from fungal infection in the lungs.
The curfew has now been extended to Monday, June 28. As in many other states Pramod Sawant may have to further extend the curfew if covid-19 variant cases start going up again. With Belgavi opening up the chances of more crowding in the Goa markets and a consequent increase in cases is highly probable. The only consolation is that more and more people are taking the vaccine with 50 per cent of Goa’s population having taken at least the first dose.