The A team
The incorrigible Digvijaya Singh of the Congress got into familiar foot in the mouth syndrome all over again when he made the tiresome allegation that AAP-GOA was the B team of the despicable BJP in Goa. This coming from a party leader who have switch over characters galore from the BJP in their fold. To refresh Singh's apparently failing memory, Digambar Kamat, Pandurang Madkaikar, and many others were actual card holding members of the BJP not so long ago and so many leaders in the Congress, still have unholy behind the scenes alliances with the ruling dispensation.
The real problem for the Congress, is that the ideology of pluralism, tolerance and a healthy democratic ethos bequeathed to us by our founding fathers, the stalwarts of who were Congressmen is now being better articulated and practised by AAP , without the baggage of corruption, nepotism and sycophancy, that has been the trade mark of present day Congress leaders. Either way, the AAP is striving to be the A-team of Goa. Whether Goans give it the privilege of serving them remains to be tested on the ground. The game is however on.
Oscar Rebello, Panaji
Peoples’ pride
Arvind Kejriwal’s Goa visit on May 22, has generated tremendous interest among Goans. The Delhi AAP government led by him focusses on pro people honest governance. Its education budget of Rs 10,690 crore in 2016-2017 would lead to the opening of 1101 new school, 50 model schools, etc. Quality health is at the door step of Delhiites, 105 out of the 1000 planned mohalla clinics i.e., state of art primary health centres are already operational and the hospital beds would be enhanced to 10,000 by 2018. Despite providing 20,000 litres of free safe drinking water to each household, the DJB earned a profit of Rs 178 crores. Over 36 lacs people have benefited from free electricity of 50 per cent slash on power tariff up to 400 units. The latest saving cost in the public infrastructure project has been of Rs 350 crore for flyover which had a sanctioned cost of Rs 950 crores and its actual construction cost has been only Rs 600 crores. On the other hand in their 55th year of liberation, Goemkars are completely disenchanted with corrupt and callous governance of their beloved State.
Isidore Domnick Mendis, Loutolim
Fish catch
The ramponkars and other traditional fishermen are blaming the drop in fish catch this year on the use of LED lights by purse seiners and other trawlers, while there is enough research out there to prove that the El Nino phenomenon has caused a lot of problems across Asia. The heatwave is another example of the drastic effects of El Nino which has been building up since mid-2015. The fish catch drop is also a side effect of this problem. Experts predict that El Nino will die down soon and everything will be back to normal. In this day and age, the government should allot some money to do research on this issues and come up with scientific evidence to figure out whether LED fishing is harmful or whether controlled fishing is possible. There is a need to restrict the amount of catch per week/month, but banning the use of lights is nonsensical.
Sanjay Pednekar, Vasco
