IT’S TIME TO GO BACK TO SCHOOL!
It was back to school on Monday, February 21, 2022 in panaji and Goa : It will take a while for students to get over the two years of Covid-19 and its lockdowns but the educational nightmare is over and from the sound and looks of it most schools were relieved to open to welcome and greet their school students with affection and ceremonially with teachers applying tilak and doing welcome aarti with prasad distribution for all. Happy days are here again and may not varnish again.
OUTLAW DEFECTIONS, SAVE DEMOCRACY!
THE anti-defection law needs to be amended immediately to save democracy in India. Most Goans are waiting anxiously for the assembly election results to be declared, hoping to see a new government headed by a truly secular political party…also, that it will stay in power for its full five year term in the State.
Can that really happen in Goa? Or are we going to be ruled by the same old dispensation with its bullying/buying of power-hungry elected mercenaries from opposition camps post-elections? Rumours are making the rounds of politicians from the same old dispensation already in touch with another to see how seize power by hook for by crook.
Well, this looks like a near possibility because despite getting just 13 seats compared to Congress party’s 17 seats in the last 2017 assembly elections, they had swiftly seized the government overnight after purchasing MLAs from rival parties. I feel as long as this anti-defection law is not amended the defection dram will continue to unfold and we voters will continue to be jokers.
Elections will come and go but our brand of politicians will continue to sell themselves to the highest bidder – betraying the trust of their own voters, they will continue jump like frogs and swing like monkeys to make a mockery of the entire democratic process of elections in Goa/India. Yes, by misusing the anti-defection law which even the judiciary can’t do anything about. Jai Hind!
— Jerry Fernandes, Saligao
DYSFUNCTIONAL CCTV!
THE DGP has publicly stated that 50% of surveillance cameras in the State are non-functional and not monitored either. He states the same are the eyes and ears of the police and prove crucial in investigations of all types of crime! That they are the safety and security of the people of Goa!
So if installed CCTV is not working whose responsibility is it? Was it not the DGP’s to get them functioning? Or did the government interfere in whose interests? Pity he chose to speak only after the elections are over and not when so many Central BJP leaders were in town in Goa!
This is the way government doles out freebies at the cost of public safety and security? Funds for frivolous doles to “reserved” categories always come courtesy sacrificing other rights due to the people! Mr DGP please put yourself up by the bootstraps.
— R Fernandes, Margao
FREE, FAIR AND INDEPENDENT?
THERE should be zero tolerance to even the smallest governmental interference in the functioning of our judiciary. Our Constitution of India is very clear on the distinct roles of the Executive, Legislature and Judiciary. It envisages a free, fair and independent judiciary. The highest standards of judicial independence must always be ensured.
With the sanctity of the other pillars of our democracy currently severely dented, our only hope is the judiciary, but with the government wanting to overpower the judiciary too, there is a very disturbing disquiet over the slippery slope on which judicial values are slithering.
An effective judiciary guarantees fairness in judicial processes and transparency. The public must be confident that the judiciary is beyond reproach. Transparency is a fundamental component of judicial independence. Any direct or indirect interference by politicians in the selection, elevation and promotion of judges or even in their transfer — is a threat to the very independence of the judiciary.
If the Judiciary is reduced to being a mouthpiece of the government, the Courts will lose all relevance. It has to be ensured that judicial accountability is maintained at all times with every Judge conforming to the highest standards of uprightness and integrity to the Rule of law. If Judges cannot independently balance the scales of Justice, the Temples of Justice become pointless.
— Aires Rodrigues, Ribandar
DO BETTER THAN THIS!
IN this 21st century see how many number of lines of telephone, water, underground electric lines and other cabling is laid next to each other in one ditch! This is not acceptable! Workers, when one of the lines goes off, tend to damage other lines, making it difficult for other departments to find faults with more digging and digging in this smart city of Panaji.
My suggestions are as follows.
Get together all department officials and plan for executing the work with minimum damaged or no fault.
Why not have a bigger conduit pipe where these lines may be passed safely?
Proper mapping and drawing must be supplied to all involved departments and especially in the case of high tension lines which must be way from other lines to avoid electrical leakage and death of workers.
The photo I’ve taken to be depicted here is just opposite Apollo St Inez Pharmacy.
— Stephen Dias, Social Activist, Dona Paula, Panaji.