Agents who harass
It has been noticed that the so called ‘agents’ serving at different RTO offices in Goa have been demanding larger amount from public for different types of official work such as acquiring or renewing permits, passing of vehicles, etc. Members of poor families find it difficult to pay this amount and hence face great difficulties in getting their work done. In fact when Mr. Sudin Dhawalikar had sworn in as the transport minister in the initial stage, he had assured the Goan population that he would initiate appropriate action against ‘agents’ who harass the public. Some months back, he once again stated that the services of agents would be stopped on a permanent basis. However till date no action seems to have been taken against this community and the ‘agents’ continue to function with great ease. Recently the Ponda branch of Shiv Sena complained that people find it difficult to get RC books and permits without the help of ‘agents’ at the Regional Transport Office in Ponda.
Pravin U Sardessai, Adpai
Convoluted logic
Never mind how much people object, BJP ideologues try to ram their policies by denying facts and repeating misinformation. The State Assembly has passed, amidst dissent and walkout by the opposition, an amendment by which the coconut tree loses its status as a tree. I am not a Congress sympathiser, but the fact is that the coconut tree was included in the Tree Preservation Act 1984 in 2008 not by mistake but precisely after umpteen coconut trees were indiscriminately damaged and cut for construction work. Caju trees were not included then, since they do not grow in beach areas but in interiors and generally hilly areas. Surprisingly, a group of coconut farmers hailed the amendment, reportedly "because it will allow them to cut or transplant coconut trees and cultivate these trees like grass." If farmers are finding it difficult to comply with the preservation act, the answer is to simply make procedures easy for them? The development hungry people and builders are rubbing their hands in glee. The gated mega constructions with swimming pools in a concrete jungle coming up with infrastructure shortages of water, power, garbage clearance etc, and knocking off iconic productive coconut trees also for road widening and so on, beats all logic! The government now wants to appoint another committee to bring in another independent devious law to protect the coconut tree as suggested by Arlekar and backed by the CM. By the same thinking, monkeys are being reclassified as vermin.
John Eric Gomes, Porvorim
Formals, at last!
I have no words to express my pleasant feelings seeing our Defense Minister Manohar Parrikar’s picture on The Goan Everyday, January 27, seated at the side by our Prime Minister Narendra Modi along with other foreign dignitaries attending the Republic Day Parade in New Delhi formally dressed in complete suit and shoes at last rather than his usual casuals. This is the exact dress code for government functions. Well done Defense Minister. Keep it up.
Luis Carlos Roncon, Panaji
