Women should be respected
The safety situation of women in the country is deteriorating by the day. The number of rape cases also seem to be going up at an alarming rate. This is mainly due to a lack of educating the men on respecting women. The girl child also has many social hurdles to overcome. A boy is considered as an asset by some families, while a girl is considered as a liability by the same households. Such thinking needs to be eradicated from the society.
Empowered women not only go to achieve great heights but also support their families. Men must be educated not to treat women as a commodity. The blame for rising rape cases cannot be solely put on the police and the government alone, but also social values inculcated by families. If the men are taught to respect women, the crimes against women will go down.
Diomedes Pereira, Corlim
Vigilance dept has gone for a toss
This week we are farcically observing the Vigilance Awareness Week. The ground reality is that the Goa Vigilance department and its Anti-Corruption Branch is virtually defunct. A now mere paper tiger totally controlled by the Ministers with the officials having no independence whatsoever to discharge their mandated role and duties.
The government should rather officially wind up this toothless department to save any further waste of taxpayers’ money on senselessly running a department which cannot fulfill its objective.
Goa today finds itself enveloped in chronic administrative chaos with deep rooted rampant organised corruption, nepotism and sheer bad governance. Despite being as optimistic as one can aspire to be, realistically it is an extremely uphill task to now rescue Goa from the current administrative mess and restore the democratic and secular values while safeguarding for posterity what little remains of our once beautiful and tranquil State.
Aires Rodrigues, Ribandar
Crackdown on illegal roadside parking needed
It is learnt that the Vasco traffic cell has appealed to the people to refrain from parking their cars along the highway while warning that the department will be launching a drive against wrong parking and abandoned cars.
It is observed that many vehicles are parked along the highway between Varnapuri and Dabolim airport on either side. This can prove dangerous for pedestrians and vehicular drivers as well. Incidentally many road accidents have been reported along this stretch of the road. Parking on most streets in the state is not managed and haphazard. People park any kind of vehicle in any location in any direction that they wish.
There needs to be rigid control and zero tolerant enforcement of parking rules as it could be an immediate solution that will bring some respite for the motorists. Vehicles illegally parked along the roadside need to be clamp locked or towed to the police station and the violators fined appropriately.
Adelmo Fernandes, Vasco
Over-hyped post of state Governors
The post of a state Governor seems like a wasteful expenditure in our democracy. Expensive real estate is used to house them and a lot of money and resources are allocated for their security.
It is also a power-less post, with its holders not having any determination to challenge the decisions of the ruling governments.
Such posts are political appointments and it is well known that they report back to their respective chiefs of political parties.
On rare occasions we have a Governor who will challenge the ruling party but they are immediately curtailed by the central and state governments.
It is high time that we stop attaching so much importance to such posts in an effort to improve the democratic structure of the country.
Arwin Mesquita, Colva
UK should be congratulated on Sunak’s election as PM
The people of Britain should be congratulated for gracefully accepting a young leader of Indian-origin, Rishi Sunak, as their new Prime Minister and for casually entrusting the responsibilities into his hands to bring out their country from the current economic crisis.
Well, if a practicing Christian Indian citizen of British-origin or an Indian Muslim of Pakistani-origin was made the Prime Minister of India, then all hell would have instantly broken out in our country.
Anyway, three cheers to the Brits for gracefully accepting Rishi Sunak as their new PM not on the basis of his religion but based on his capabilities and for showing countries like India on how to successfully run their democracies.
Jerry Fernandes, Saligao
How can airport officials discharge sewage into natural spring?
So, there go all our efforts to save the environment, down the drain! How can one explain this disastrous act on the part of the Dabolim Airport discharging untreated sewage into a natural spring at Assoi Dongri.
How could they even think of doing such a thing? Come to think of it, this has been going on for the past four years! According to a news report, locals have been lodging complaints with the authorities and a joint inspection by the Chicalim Gram panchayat and the Goa State Pollution Control Board was carried out after a ‘written’ complaint by a resident.
Sad to note that there was no urgency whatever in the matter especially since it was a question of polluting water, water being a basic necessity and a source of life. Needless to say, strict action is called for in all localities in all states against such disastrous and unethical practices.
Melville D’Souza, Mumbai
