the goan I network
MARGAO
The last time he hit the roads in support of a public cause was in Cuncolim, his native village, to demand justice for the people hit by power outages.
When Cuncolkars came on the roads to protest against the power outages and the power department’s failure to tone up the power infrastructure in the Cuncolim municipal area, Shantaram along with Congress leaders Altinho Gomes, Joe Dias joined Cuncolim MLA Clafacio Dias, block president Landry Mascarenhas and others to express his solidarity with the people’s movement.
In fact, the former Rajya Sabha MP had hit out at the government, saying it had failed to provide 24x7 power supply to the people of Cuncolim. He took the platform to remind the government and the Power Minister not to show disrespect to the people of the historic Cuncolim village, which had led Goa’s liberation struggle. “The Power Minister should know that the Goa Liberation movement had started from Cuncolim. He has no right to say that the Cuncolim MLA was only interested in a stunt,” he had said, while demanding an apology from the Power Minister for insulting the MLA.
Goa Congress Mahila Chief Pratima Coutinho, who had participated in the protest at Cuncolim, recalled how Shantaram invited the Mahila Congress women to his home at Cuncolim and offered snacks. “We gelled well with the Naik family since Shantaram’s wife Beena is the state Mahila Congress Vice-president,” Pratima said, while offering
her condolence to the bereaved family.
