In a common practice among churches in Goa to store several important records of parishioners which include baptism, marriage, death certificates, etc. These certificates are stored as hard copies in record books. As a result, it becomes cumbersome for the church office staff to search the records as and when a copy of the same is requested by parishioners. Many of these old records are sometimes destroyed. On the other hand, municipal councils, for instance, store such records in computers. In the parishes, the timetable of the mass to be offered in the coming months by parishioners for their love ones is also maintained in a diary. If this diary is misplaced, as was the case in the Vasco parish recently, then parishioners as well as the church staff and the parish priest face a lot of hardship. In view of this, the parishes should consider digitising all such records as well as the schedule of mass offerings.
Recently, Margao Municipal Council hurriedly installed a portrait of former chief minister Dr Wilfred de Souza in the Town Hall of Margao without any prior consultation with the public. No doubt, Dr. Wilfred was an acclaimed surgeon. Like every other holder of public office, he certainly has made some contribution in lesser or greater measure to Goa. We generally do not prefer to speak ill of those who have passed away, but a critical evaluation of any representative of the people has always to be welcomed. When we look at Dr Wilfred's political career, he was known to be a turncoat who frequently migrated from one party to another. After the unveiling of the portrait, the former CM was hailed as an ideal statesman and politician. Pray tell me, what are these "ideals"? Dr Wilfred always aimed at the Chief Minister's position and was involved in all sorts of tactics of musical chair to achieve his goal. He even established new political parties for the same. Let us respect him as an individual and as an accomplished surgeon. But there was certainly nothing "statesman-like" in his political career. The main apprehension about this portrait is because Dr Wilfred's contribution to Margao is nothing but nil. Neither did he ever represent Margao or its suburbs in the Assembly, nor did he have his origin in Margao. The Saligao Panchayat installing his portrait could be understood, but why MMC? Statues of Margao's eminent city fathers including Luis de Menezes Braganza, Dr Miguel de Loyola Furtado, etc, are lying neglected in the Municipal garden, right under the nose of the Town Hall. The cash-strapped MMC definitely has better things to do. Will the MMC chairperson reply to this query?
Vikas Kamat, Margao
