Persons in public life are expected to be moral exemplars of morality and ethics as they have pledged to uphold and defend that realm. There is no dividing line between their personal and public life. Private lives of public figures are wide open to public scrutiny. What they do in their private life matters and does impact their public responsibilities. Can they be ethical in public if they are unethical in private? Their private life reveals more about morals than their sound bites. That British MP Keith Vaz has now been caught in a very scandalizing sex scandal only exposes the sagging moral values of those in public life. Less said the better about Aam Aadmi Party ministers and legislators in Delhi who were caught in similar disgraceful acts. The French Nobel Prize winning Author and Philosopher Albert Camus had rightly said “A man without ethics is a wild beast loosed upon this world”.
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It was pleasant surprise to find a small coloured booklet containing aarti prayers
that accompanied The Goan Everyday newspaper recently. The editor and staff deserve a pat on their backs for their intention in publishing such a beautiful booklet on the eve of festival of Ganesh Chaturthi. May Lord Ganesha bless the proprietors, editor, staff and publisher of The Goan Everyday.
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The BRICS Summit will be held in Goa next month. Foreign dignitaries are expected to descend on the state. But unfortunately, the roads are in a pathetic condition and garbage is strewn all across the state. It is indeed going to be a terrible experience for the BRICS delegates to travel over bumpy and potholed roads. The garbage situation in Goa is also an eyesore. One, because the government has set up waste gathering points along the highways, which are itself ill-maintained. Secondly, there is no proper system of garbage segregation and door-to-door waste collection in the villages. The situation in the commercial capital Margao, and the state's capital Panaji is no different. All this is going to project a very poor image of Goa as well as India among the BRICS delegates. Another issue in the state that has been neglected for the past many years is the stray cattle menace on the roads. They block traffic, thus leading to traffic jams and accidents that ultimately causes human injuries and deaths. Even animals are knocked dead on the roads. This could also be a security threat to the BRICS delegates. The Goa Government has been unable to address these problems. I appeal to the Prime Minister to use his good offices to act quickly and set things in order in this regard before the BRICS Summit is held.
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