CHAI PE CHARCHA!
GOVERNOR HOSTS HIGH TEA FOR NEWLY ELECTED MLAs: Governor of Goa PS Sreedharan Pillai hosted a high tea for all the newly elected Legislative Assembly Members of Goa at the Raj Bhavan at Dona Paula on April 5, 2022. Speaking on the occasion Governor Pillai congratulated all the MLAs for their victory and appealed to them to work for a constructive and progressive democracy. He also distributed mementos to all the MLAs present on the occasion. As far as hosting high tea for MLAs goes this is the first of its kind hosted at the Raj Bhavan by a governor, we don’t know what the high tea menu for the MLAs was but will endeavour to find out!
YES, SIR MLAS!
CHIEF Minister Pramod Sawant (of “bhivpach garaz na fame”) seems to currently want to make a selective list of religious structures of all the minorities. Is his with the sole intention of slowly spreading some exaggerated, fictitious, fabricated stories from the past to spread anti-minority hatred? And mischievously start playing UP-type of communal hate politics to disturb the centuries old communal harmony of this Goa for his own political survival!
He has made a Rs20 crore provision in his maiden budget to rebuild and refurbish the temples destroyed during the Portuguese rule in Goa. But we Goans (irrespective of caste, creed, religion) have historically lived peacefully in communal harmony in this state for the last so many years, as we have always believed in living in the present and not in the past.
If Sawant wants to do something really worthwhile in terms of religion then let him do it with good intentions and not by sparking communal riots and unleashing communal hate politics in peaceful Goa.
Peace-loving Goans want Pramod Sawant to stop raising religious-centric issues of the past for his own survival and instead do something about inflation to improve living conditions of the people. These are the real issues badly affecting Goans today.
The CM must learn to drive his much publicised double-engine government in the forward direction by putting it in the right gear – so Goans move on the road of real development instead of going backward into the dark ages of past history. Don’t be a reverse gear chief minister in Goa. Hope better sense prevails. Viva Goa, Viva Goenkaar!
— R Fernandes, Margao
WELCOME BACK JASPAL SINGH
JASPAL SINGH who has taken over as Goa’s Director General of Police is no stranger to Goa. He was first posted here as Assistant Superintendent of Police in 1999 and in 2017 as IGP. Indra Dev Shukla who retired as DGP during his short stint, tried his best to uplift the police force which over the years has sadly lacked independence in its functioning with politicians in power having done all they can to systematically erode the powers and authority of the DGP.
The Supreme Court has time and again ruled that the police should be wholly insulated from any political pressure, whatsoever, so as to be able to secure the citizen’s rights under the Constitution and that the Police should be allowed to freely and fearlessly discharge their fundamental duties of ensuring law and order while upholding the rule of law.
For good public policing the politicians should never use the police to target their political opponents and to silence voices of dissent. Politicians publicly speak about the independence of the police and of law taking its own course, but the ground reality is very different as they interfere and unduly intervene even in the day-to-day working of the police. We have a lot of good and smart police but unfortunately their brains and investigative skills are in the custody of the politicians whose line they have to tow.
Tackling the grave drug menace, rising crime and enormous corruption at all levels of governance are some of the challenges Jaspal Singh will have to grapple with as the new DGP of Goa. Let us all wish him well!
— Aires Rodrigues, Ribandar
ST INEZ CREEK TORTURE!
THOMAS Monteiro of capital city Panaji says the St Inez bridge close to his workshop is under renovation and asphalting is going on. Both sides the traffic has stopped moving. The bridge is situated over the canal creek which passes and connects the river Mandovi.
I too noticed these endless repairs going in recent times. It was worst when I wanted to travel to Dona Paula last week. Is the whole creek under renovation, I have observed that the concrete slabs are installed to avoid mud filling into the creek, but the creek is so narrowed and this will raise water level!
Nothing is transparent about these repair works going on with the St Inez Creek. Right from Dukle Construction and up to the bridge work is going on. Is the creek being permanently closed and the solution of water flowing in and out be achieved? At various places the filling of the canal is noticed. This process is carried out by stopping water from entering at both ends.
What is going on? Ponjekars are in a dilemma being in the dark. Will someone bother to enlighten citizens of Panaji or they don’t count for much with this City of Panaji Corporation so called fathers and government of Goa?
— Stephen Dias, Social activist and Ponjekar, Panaji