Goa's Christian sects upset with Panjim mayors comments

The pleas of various Christian sects seeking space for burial grounds in the city of Panjim which was rejected by the Corporation of the city of Panjim (CCP) last Friday, with its mayor Carolina Po telling the media that the feeling among the corporators was that the people who have converted to other sects should ask those people who led them to convert, to provide burial grounds, came in for scathing criticism from leaders of various Christian sects across Goa.

Some Christian sects such as the Syrian and Methodist Christian sects had reportedly applied  for burial grounds from the CCP which was rejected by the Panjim corporators under the fear that these sects have their numbers scattered all over Goa and granting them a burial ground would therefore result in all their dead being brought from all over Goa, to Panjim to be buried. This was in pursuance of the CCP's resolve under a resolution passed by the CCP last year banning burial of persons not living in the jurisdiction of Panjim city. The cemeteries in the city of Panjim are being run by the Municipal body.

However various leaders of different Christian sects from Goa took strong exception to the Mayors comments and termed it undemocratic and a violation of human rights. At a meeting held by the various Christian sects in Margao, the members and pastors of such sects lamented the lack of democracy in the comments and urged people in public positions not to make such strong statements which could lead to a flare-up.

The pastors belonging to New life fellowship church of Panjim, Margao and Vasco, Parakletos Church, Margao, Corner stone church Margao, Mount Zion Church, Good News Church, River of Life Church Panjim, Good Hope Church and Methodist Church were present at the meeting.

A pastor of a River of Life Church Panjim criticised the comments of the mayor saying that there is no question of anybody converting them and that they have chosen to be members of a certain sect out of their own free will and asked the government to look after the interest of all citizens irrespective of their religious backgrounds.

Another pastor pointed out that it is the constitutional right of every citizen to be buried after death and said that burial cannot be denied on any grounds leave alone the religious ground

Senior Citizens of Goa to benefit from state policy soon

Come the next couple of days and the state of Goa could have its policy for the senior citizens in place, something  which was formed under the Maintenance and Welfare of parents and senior citizens act 2007, after it is duly notified and published in the official gazette. The policy is likely to come into force from October 1 2009, to coincide with the International day for Senior citizens.

It may be recalled that the state government of Goa has announce this policy for senior citizens welfare last year on 1st of October and it is exactly after one year the government has decided to implement the same. the file pertaining to the policy has reportedly been cleared by the finance and the law departments and has been reverted to the social welfare department.

Under the policy, parents are eligible to claim maintenance allowance from their children and the policy also envisages the setting up of maintenance tribunals and appellate tribunals. Pressure has been mounting on the government over the delay in implementing the policy with various NGOs urging for its early enforcement. It is reported that senior citizens in the state face a lot of hardships from their children especially in matters related to property in Goa . Under the policy, the elderly shall be empowered to claim the property back from their children if the same is given on the basis of looking after their needs and amenities.

There is also a demand to set up and maintain homes for senior citizens in Goa to take care of them in their old age and provide the necessary medical care and recreation facilities. There are suggestions also made to the government of Goa to apprise and inform the police and the judiciary on protection of life and property of the elderly under the provisions of the act.

Goa will thus join states such as Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Delhi, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Nagaland, Rajasthan and Tripura in enforcing such a policy aimed at the protection of the interests of the senior citizens of the state.

Goa CRZ violations : Coastal Panchayats to file affidavits

The division bench of the Bombay high court at Goa, while hearing a suo moto petition  with regard to the illegal construction in the CRZ areas of Goa, has asked the coastal village panchayats to file affidavits by providing the details of the type of constructions, the survey numbers and what use these structures are being put to.

During the hearing of the petition, amicus curiae Norma Alvares brought it to the notice of the High Court that most of the panchayats in Goa may have issued demolition orders to illegal structures violating CRZ, but none have actually carried out any demolitions. She also pointed out that some of the panchayats are still at the stage of issuing show cause notices.

The court has sought the affidavits to be filed by October 5th 2009, stating therein the total number of structures in the 200 metres zone as per the survey maps. The court has also asked to state the number of structures found to be existing as on February 19 1991. The matter is expected to come up for hearing on October 13 2009. The bench also asked the state advocate general Adv Subodh kantak to give information about the number of appeals pending before the panchayat director regarding the illegal structures violating the CRZ.

Some of the village panchayats informed that they have filed their affidavits while others said that while the affidavits were ready, they were not yet filed. Ms Alvares submitted a chart which specified the details of the affidavits filed by the panchayats in various villages of Goa.

As per the details, Calangute and Canacona were on top of the charts aggregating 684 structures in Calangute and over 616 structures in Canacona. However, strangely, Calangute panchayat has issued notices only to around 90 such structures while Canacona has issued notices to only around 48 structures.

Comparatively, Anjuna panchayat has issued notices to over 227 structures out of a total of 427 such constructions in the No development Zone (NDZ). Mandrem Panchayat in the north and Agonda in the south of Goa have issued notices to 61 and 30 structures respectively.

Illegal mining in Goa : Panel blames select trio

The committee on mines in Goa has put the onus of illegal mining in Goa on three departments of the state which the committee said are passing the buck when it came to illegal mining in the state of Goa. The three departments are the Directorate of mines, Forest department and the Goa state Pollution control board. The first report of the committee says that if these three departments had to initiate action against the offenders, then the state of Goa would not have faced this problem of illegal mines and pollution.

The committee observed that while the Directorate of mines followed central government rules in the enforcement, it did not take the responsibility to ensure that mining activity is not done without environmental clearance and other required permissions. The committee observed that it was the duty of the departments to close down or cancel the licences of the mines whose mining rejects and mining wastes pose a threat and damage to paddy fields, fruit bearing crops and drinking water resources and other water bodies within the vicinity of the mines

While the deemed clause was being misused by numerous mining companies, and which was being known to the concerned departments, none of them stopped this practice. The committee has now suggested to the government of Goa to pass strictures amending the state and central legislation affecting mining in the state. The committee has urged the government to stop all mining operations in the state which are carried out with or without valid lease concessions.

Now CCTVs to ogle at you in Goa, at Margao and Tivim

CCTVs have finally made their way into strategic locations in Goa and the first hosts have been the railway stations in Goa at Margao and Thivim which will come under the eye of CCTVs beginning Monday August 24, 2009. Both the facilities currently installed with closed circuit televisions would become operational on Monday after the inauguration at the hands of Konkan railway corporation managing director Mr Anurag Mishra.

With terror threats looming over Goa since the end of last year after the Mumbai terror attacks, the CCTV project was contemplated for Goa's railway stations of Margao and Thivim and are being installed at an estimated cost of Rs 40 lakh. While Margao was the lone station initially mooted for the project after the Mumbai carnage, the Konkan railway corporation however sanctioned the project for the two railway stations to contain the terror threat in a more wholesome manner.

Besides helping the cause of warding off terror threats in the state, the CCTVs are expected to help the law enforcement agencies in the state  in tracking down criminals in Goa who commit crimes and flee out of the state via the Margao railway station.

It has been earlier experienced by the police that the trail of most criminal offences in Margao and in the state have led sniffer dogs to the Margao railway station in cases mostly related to thefts and burglaries. The CCTVs are expected to help keep a close tab on such elements who use the Margao railway station as their mode of fleeing Goa after committing the crimes.

Goa govt appoints panel to check grievances of parents

With parents of children in private unaided schools of Goa deciding to take recourse to legal action to enforce the rules applicable to such schools as per the Goa School education act 1984, the Goa government appears to have woken up to the reality facing it and has now belatedly appointed a committee to introspect the grievances of parents on the issue of fee hikes in private recognised unaided schools in the state of Goa.

The panel is expected to hear the members of the private unaided school managements, the unaided school parents association of aggrieved parents, other people in the education field and subsequently submit its report to the government within a period of one month

The members of the panel are former education director Suman Pednekar who heads the committee, Surendra Sirsat ( retired principal of Kushe Higher secondary school Mapusa, C K Mathew ( retired Principal  Holy trinity HSSS Benaulim ) D P Pednekar ( retired principal of Naik Higher secondary school Curchorem) and Avinash Nasnodkar ( AEO - legal, Education Department)

Among other things the committee is expected to deliberate on matters such as : the scope of references of the committee with whether in terms of section 13 of the Goa school education act 1984, the hike of fees by private unaided schools is necessary to implement sixth pay commission scales to their staff thereby bringing them on par with the employees of the corresponding status in schools run by the government.

The other aspect to be analysed by the panel is whether the exorbitant hike of fees by the unaided schools is justified with respect to providing better infrastructure facilities and quality education for better development of the child as claimed by such schools

Transparency in accounts of unaided schools is another bone of contention expressed by the aggrieved parents and this issue is bound to invite suggestions from the panel to resolve it with more transparency in audited accounts.

The panel may also explore the possibility of making further provisions with regard to the fee structure  in unaided schools in Goa, in the Goa school education act and rules and make recommendations accordingly.

Goa panchayats get together to spit fire on amendment

The controversy ridden amendment bill to the Panchayat raj act added another dimension with a new forum formed to battle against the draconian bill when the panchayats from Goa announced the formation of the All Goa panchayat Democratic Forum(AGPDF) which warned the government of a full blown agitation in the state if the bill wasn't reverted in a time frame of three weeks.

The forum which met in Panjim , exhorted Goans and the people from South Goa to attend a big public rally in Salcete, to oppose the damaging bill in full force. The date for the rally is expected to be fixed somewhere after the Ganesh festival.

Speaking at he meeting, the President of the forum, Mr Joseph Sequeira said that if the government failed to take cognizance of its demand, then there will be a full fledged agitation which the government of Goa will find difficult to resist. Mr Sequeira also lambasted the various MLAs for making baseless statements against the Sarpanchas, as a means to push in the amendment bill

Other speakers who spoke on the occasion were Soter Dsouza who called for unity among the panchayats and compared the government to the British who tried to play the game of divide and rule.Thalmann Pereira revealed how a select committee and ad-hoc committee reports differed on the rights of the panchayats and urged the panchayats to pass resolutions opposing the amendment. Former convenor of Goa Bachao Abhiyan(GBA) , Mr Oscar rebello recollected the victories of the Goan people in fighting issues such as the Regional Plan 2011, SEZs etc and said that it is time the gram sabhas of Goa took this issue also to be defeated through an unified action.

Prajal Sakhardande, the well known historian reminded the people about the day August 20 2009 as being the birthday of the late Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi whose vision of panchayati raj in Goa was being strangulated by this amendment. Also speaking on the occasion were convenor of GBA Sabina Martins, Cansaulim Sarpanch Basil Fernandes, Rachol Sarpanch Joseph vaz and others.

Goa Sarpanchas wake up to Panchayati Raj nightmare

The Goan dissent to the panchayati raj amendment bill is continuously rising with new vigilant groups emerging from the Goan fraternity and the most affected of these are obviously the sarpanchas who have realised albeit a bit late that their authority is bound to be completely undermined if the proposed bill is enacted into a law. The South Goa Sarpanchas Forum (SGSF) was thus another new body formed to oppose the bill tooth and nail.

At a well attended meeting held at Margao, the SGSF called upon panchayats from all villages in south Goa to call for the gram sabhas to deliberate on the recently passed Goa panchayat amendment bill 2009 and subsequently resolved to submit a memorandum to the governor Mr Shivinder Singh Sidhu urging him to deny his assent to the draconian bill.

The meeting which as attended to by over 70 elected representatives resolved to oppose the "usurpal of powers" of the peoples elected representatives of the Goan village panchayats which they strongly condemned and termed it as contrary to letter and spirit of the "73rd amendment of the constitution"

Last week, the Goa assembly amidst a walkout staged by the opposition, had passed the above bill which would confer executive powers on the panchayat secretaries . The sarpanchas deputy sarpanchas and the panchas have termed this action unwarranted and anti-people. The meeting also condemned the Panchayat minister Mr Manohar Azgaonkar as well as other MLAs supporting the bill

Goans bracing for big battle against "panchayat hijack"

The brewing anger stemming amongst Goans against the draconian panchayat raj amendment bill 2009, which seeks to snatch away the powers of the panchayat body and vest them in the bureaucracy, is slowly gathering momentum and various individuals, organisations and village bodies are slowly mustering collective support in a bid to converge in a mass agitation movement to compel the government to do a rethink on the ridiculous amendment to the law. If the citizens galvanize in full force against the amendment, Goa could witness a repeat of the agitation which forced the government to scrap the regional plan 2011 in 2007.

Among the various forums which have been scathingly vocal about the unjust amendment which seeks to do away with the voice of the village bodies, the newly baptised "panchayat democratic forum" has vowed to launch an agitation to protest the amendment untill it is withdrawn.

The "panchayat democratic forum", a body which comprises of sarpanchas, panch members and activists from all over Goa has conducted its first meeting on Tuesday, August 11 2009 and has first decided to approach the office of the governor to impress upon him not to give his assent to the draconian amendment. All the speakers at the meeting unleashed a vitriolic attack on the government which they said would nullify the powers if the panchayats of Goa.

the director for the Centre of panchayati raj Mr Soter D'Souza pointed out  that the amendment is an effort to usurp the powers of the panchayat and termed the move as unconstitutional. He also blamed the opposition to be part of the plot to facilitate the amendment during the recent assembly session. Mr D'souza said that the government does not want to follow the model Panchayati raj act because it is not interested in devolving powers to the panchayat.

Advocate Thalmann Pereira lambasted the government saying that benevolent dictatorship is not acceptable and sought the democracy to be in the hands of the people who should decide about their representatives depending upon their performance.

The various speakers lamented that the panchayats and over 189 sarpanchas have been ignored and not taken into confidence regarding the bill and that the powers of the panchayat were being taken away and given to the panchayat secretaries which would encourage manipulation by vested interests.

Goa students need to learn traffic rules in School

The need to impart traffic rule education in Goan schools came to the fore in the assembly when the opposition MLAs maintained that the transport ministry had failed in its promise to make knowledge on traffic regulations as a part of school curriculum and no steps in this direction had so far been taken. However regular challans were being issued to defaulters with no education measures being undertaken by the government to ensure that the alarming rise in the number of road accidents in the state had arrested.

Mr Francis D’Souza, the Deputy opposition leader stressed on the imperative need for the procedure of acquiring a driving license to be made more stringent and lamented that bribes of Rs 500 were enough for anybody to get a licence and urged that unless the people are educated in traffic discipline, the licences should not be issued.

Also Mr D’Souza advised the government that improvement in road engineering aimed at widening accident prone zones would go a long way in reducing accidents considerably in Goa.

Road safety programmes need more teeth to be highlighted effectively to the community in Goa and good highways and one ways were the need of the hour said Mr D’Souza

Panchayat Raj bill gets assent from Goa govt

The blackest hour in Goa's panchayati raj  came to pass when the ruling benches of the Goa legislative assembly decided on Thursday 6th August 2009 to pass the controversial Goa Panchayat Raj Amendment Bill 2009 as the opposition indulged in a cosmetic exercise of protesting the move by staging a theatrical walk-out with its leader Mr Manohar Parrikar merely shouting that the BJP would not be a party to the bill.

The controversial amendment to the panchayat raj bill seeks to give powers to the bureaucracy instead of the elected representatives of the people and threatens to seriously undermine the will of the people in Goa.

The  Bill seeks to amend the section 47 of the Panchayat raj act so as to empower the panchayat secretary to execute the orders passed by the block development officer, director and deputy director of panchayats, state election commissioner and the government. The Goa opposition leader had earlier sought clarifications on which authority the Panchayat secretary was expected to answer and termed the powers granted to him as contradictory which would put the official in a tight spot with regards to whose directions to follow.

The panchayat secretary would not know whose directions to follow when there was the panchayat body, the director of panchayats and the government and Parrikar had merely suggested an additional clause to clarify the secretary's powers and roles.

The bill which was therefore amended on wednesday was duly passed by a voice vote on Thursday. The amended bill in its current form implies that if the panchayat fails to implement any orders passed by any authority in an appeal filed before it by citizens or others under the Goa panchayat raj rules within the specified time period, the secretary of the panchayat will execute them in future. In case the higher authorities have not specified a time limit in the order in connection with the appeal, then the secretary will enforce it within a month from the issuance of the order or the directions.

The draconian legislation now awaits the nod of the governor before being drafted as a law.

NHAI's Satanic ignorance of Goa most deplorable

What is the difference between Saint Anne and Satan? Nothing, seems to be the answer for the National Highways authority of India which has conveniently corrupted the name of Saint Anne with that of Satan on its signboards along the NH 17, which is condemnable to say the least. While one would think that mere sensibilities had to prevail before committing the name SATAN to a peaceful and beautiful village of Goa, it is a mystery whether NHAI decides on the various names of places along the highway on mere hearsay or relies on the advice and diction of its migrant labourers who are engaged in the laying of the roads for its highway.

The village of "Saint Anne" or "SantAnne" in Konkani, is located off the national Highway 17 just before the Pilar junction on the eastern side as one proceeds from Panjim to Margao. A quaint village with peaceful surroundings and an abode of lush greenery, SantAnne is named after "Saint Anne"  and has been in the news recently due to the ambitious renovation plans that have been undertaken of the Sant Anne Church. It is the first village encountered by those who choose to skip the highway enroute to Panjim in quest of a traffic free road which runs through the village and after negotiating some quick twists, turns and hills, takes you through the village of Merces at the other end to reach the city of Panjim. The distance to Panjim through this route is cut down by a good two kilometres.

However it seems that the National Highway authority of India or its people engaged in the listing of names along the highway have allowed their common sense or common knowledge to lie rotten amidst their 9 to 5 duty of completing their assigned tasks of putting up name plates along the highways. Any person worth his school under- matriculation would have the presence of mind to understand that "Satan" is indeed the devil. Common sense would demand of anyone to think twice before listing such an evil name along the highway in place of the actual name and would naturally seek more information through enquiries and be satisfied with a thorough  confirmation of such a devilish name if it ever existed for any place. But not the NHAI. It seems they can do what they wish. Bend turn, melt or mould Goan names of places according to their whims and pleasure.

What's more is that the name of Satan has been replaced for the name of Saint Anne, who in her lifetime was known to have worked for the kingdom of God. The disgust stems from the fact  that two extremities, one a Saint and another the devil,  having opposite teachings have been carelessly swapped to misguide people and wound the feelings of Goans and christians in particular.

Another neighbouring village of Batim which has been in the news for apparitions of Our lady, has also been listed as Batti on the same signboard. How does NHAI manage to concoct simple names of Goan villages into disgraceful unrecognisable places is a question the authority needs to answer.

While people in Goa would be willing to forgive NHAI for the umpteen errors in the pollution of Goa's village and city names on Goa's part of NH17, the error of SantAnne to Satan is completely unpardonable and appears to be carried out in complete disregard to the sensibilities of Goans or is the work undertaken by an irresponsible agency either deliberately or by the "chalta hai" wisdom of its ability to be immune to accountability.

By Goacom

Goa's CRZ violators served with demolition notices

Acting on the instructions of the High court, many of the coastal village panchayats and municipal Councils in Goa have issued demolition notices after due identification and verification of  illegal structures in the Coastal regulation zone.Accordingly over 25 village panchayats are known to have  informed the court on Monday about the action taken by them to carry out the verification process.

A total of over 432 show cause notices are believed to be issued to various parties with structures in the 200 metre zone from the high tide line. After due hearing of the parties in question, over 42 structures are lined up for demolition. In addition over 6189 notices have been issued to parties having structures within 500 metres of the high tide line.

While in Canacona in the  south, the Palolem beach, a hot tourist spot in Goa, has over 42 structures identified by the Canacona Municipal Council as illegal and has issued demolition orders accordingly. In Calangute, show cause notices have been served to 91 structures within 200 metres of the high tide line (HTL) and found to be illegal after verification.

In Cavelossim, the panchayat has issued demolition notices to over 15 structures after identifying the structures  within 200 metres of the high tide line.

Goa Police get "INSAS" shot in the arm

Post 26/11, the government of Goa was stirred into the stark reality which had already embarrassed the Mumbai Police after their lack of mere preparedness to face terrorists was exposed with the megapolis' city police found toting with antique pistols and guns which made them look like virtual schoolboys caught at recess time when the terrorists from across the border struck the most telling blows at different locations in Mumbai's hotels, airports, restaurants and an Jewish centre on November 26 2008. Goa was feared to be the next terror target which had made the administration get up and take the much overdue decision of beefing up its armoury to meet current standards of defence preparedness.

It was therefore hearty to note that the initiative has finally borne fruit with the Goa government procuring over 100 INSAS rifles as part of the plan to gradually phase out the nearly 3000 odd .303 rifles which the force has been so far been using.

However the procurement of the guns has been part of regular haphazard  purchase practices where the guns are there but no ammunition to use them. No doubt the guns procured last month lay unused for over a month untill the state government of Goa received a consignment of ammunition from the Delhi Police on loan. The guns have now been distributed to various police stations in the state to enable the '"men in uniform" to train themselves in the use of the sophisticated rifle.

The rifles which cost over Rs 10 lakh, have been distributed to police stations in Panaji, Calangute, Anjuna, Pernem and Porvorim polices stations in the North of Goa and Vasco, Colva, Margao, Verna, Cuncolim and Canacona in South Goa and the training of the policemen on the gun, is currently in progress .

The Goa state police is presently on a state of high alert following intelligence inputs regarding terror threat on the west coast of India and the possible eventualities during the forthcoming Independence day celebrations. Patrolling at vital points in Goa has therefore been intensified and the Police have increased their co-ordination with fishermen, hoteliers, cyber cafe, PCO owners and taxi operators, alerting and sensitising them about the security steps.

Hotels, guest houses,cyber cafes, PCO's and other places have therefore become the frequent stops for beat officers to maintain regular checks all over Goa.

Goa High court extends stay on school fee hikes

The aggrieved parents who have approached the high court to intervene in their grievances relating to arbitrary school fee hikes by private unaided schools under the banner of All Goa Unaided schools Parents Association,(AGUSPA) were relieved when the high court of Bombay at Goa extended the interim stay on approval of fee hikes by government recognised private unaided schools in Goa till August 4.

The matter came up following a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by AGUSPA. The advocate general Mr Subodh kantak informed the bench that the government had already constituted a committee to look into the accounts of government recognised unaided private schools in the state of Goa.

AGUSPA maintained that the fee hikes were completely arbitrary and that all their efforts to elicit cooperation from the government and the directorate of education to curb the "commercialisation of education" had failed and therefore the only option available to them was to move the high court.

While AGUSPA was against any fee hikes, the association was of the view that a committee of experts should be formed to work on the financial matters pertaining to the unaided schools and prepare a report on whether salaries as per the Sixth pay commission recommendations could be paid to teachers within the current existing fee structure.

AGUSPA held the Directorate of education responsible for the arbitrary fee hikes and maintained that the failure of DoE to meticulously enforce the Goa School education Act 1984 through section 19, sub section (3) and (4) which deals with the fees and other charges to be collected by schools , has led to the present situation where education in Goa has become commercialised.

Seeking to correct the system through the PIL, AGUSPA stated that the ongoing battle is aimed at streamlining erring managements and trustees of unaided schools and the DoE which has denied justice for long to parents who have been unduly exploited due to inaction.

AGUSPA has also sought that the DoE should constitute an authority to inspect and audit the account statements of recognised private unaided schools in Goa which they pointed out is mandatory under Section 10, sub-section 7 and under the rules framed in the Goa education Act 1984.

Helmet rule to be uniform all over Goa

The Helmet which is a safety gear for the head while travelling on a two wheeler is likely to be made as a compulsory wear for all Goans across the state irrespective of the type of area they drive the two wheelers in. Currently the Goa government has relaxed the rule of wearing helmets which has been made compulsory for two wheeler drivers only on highways and excludes places such as village roads, city limits , towns and other such areas.

However all that could undergo a change and people in Goa may have to wear the helmet if they intend to drive the two-wheelers on the roads, in any area all over Goa. This has been necessitated due to the inability of the transport department to evince the desired results due to the partial implementation of the rule in Goa.

A proposal to implement the rule in wholesome has therefore been forwarded to the transport department and is supposedly under active consideration of the government. The transport department is currently of the view that making the helmet compulsory throughout the state would help avoid the number of people dying due to head injuries on the roads by meeting with accidents which involve two wheelers. It is believed that wearing the  helmet would have saved such lives.

As per the statistics of the transport department, the traffic police in Goa had registered over 37,446 cases in the year 2007 against two wheelers for not wearing the helmet on highways whereas in 2008 the number rose by over 45 percent to 54,392.

It is estimated that more than half the number of accidents occurring in Goa involve two wheelers and the people succumbing to such accidents are either the two wheeler riders or the pillion riders. Studies have proved that wearing a helmet by such people could have saved the lives which were lost.

DSSS for Goans! Domicile comes under scanner.

With the aim of ensuring that only genuine Goans benefit from the Goa governments' much touted Dayanand Social Security Scheme (DSSS) the state administration is mulling to increase the period of stay in the state from a mere 15 years to a more realistic 25 years to prevent migrants from other states from availing the benefit which was actually mooted for Goans.

The suggestion was part of many such suggestions put forth on Friday July 3 2009, when the ad-hoc committee on health and social welfare met for the second time. There members of the committee pointed out to the blatant misuse of the DSSS scheme by pensioners, migrants and by those availing the benefit of other schemes.

The committee was of the view that an immediate survey of the beneficiaries under DSSS was necessary to weed out undeserving persons to prevent its misuse since the number of claimants for the DSSS benefit was steadily on the rise and the government could find itself unable to sustain the scheme if bonafide Goan people are not verified immediately.

The committee was also critical of misuse of government schemes by producing a caste certificate issued by "samaj' presidents. Also coming under the committees's notice was the rampant private businesses indulged in by employees of government run hospitals at Goa medical college and Hospicio, where such employees were involved in private businesses such as running of canteens, restaurants and money lending which the committee felt should be stopped forthwith.

Goa launches "Missing Persons Squad"

Stung by widespread criticism of failure to thoroughly investigate into the missing complaints brought to the fore by the arrest and subsequent confessions of alleged serial killer Mahanand Naik, the Goa Police have now formed a special squad called a "Missing Persons Squad' (MPS)to separately monitor the efforts made to trace missing persons in the wake of rising number of missing person cases in the state of Goa.

The separate cell of MPS was inaugurated by the home minister Mr Ravi Naik on Thursday 2nd July 2009. The unit will function under the supervision of a police inspector from Women police cell and will be responsible for performing and monitoring duties assigned to multi task force. Initial  efforts within 15 days  after receiving the missing complaint are to be given critical importance and the investigation officers have been directed to inform police stations in Goa and neighbouring states inform the MPS and prepare look out notices.

Also all missing cases will be kept open mandatorily for six months and will be close only with the MPS permission. Though the case will be closed, the missing persons file will be kept for seven years and only then will it be destroyed.

When a missing complaint is made to any police station, the police officer in charge shall ensure immediate despatch of information on talash form to the MPS . Thereafter monthly information from district SP, will be sent to the squad.

On receipt of information from the PCR, the MPS will enter the same in the station diary of women's police station and thereafter copy the details in the register of missing persons maintained in MPS according to proforma. There will be two separate search registers, one for males and another for females. the entries for minors will be made in red ink in the name column.

Simultaneously, the message will be passed on to investigating officer and photographs will be flashed to passport office, railway stations, bus stations, border check posts , TV channels and other media and efforts will be made to trace the missing person or if there is any suspicion, then the police officer will begin investigations on the spot especially for children below 12 years of age.

Goa presses anti-ragging law

The Goa Governor Dr SS Sidhu revealed today that the government of Goa has passed a bill " The Goa prohibition of ragging bill, 2008" which has been signed by him and has now been notified as the Goa Act of 2009. The act pending since 2007 seems to have been notified after pressure from the central government to enact such a law to curb the menace all over the country.

The act gives the heads of educational institutions, a judicial authority to file fact-finding reports in ragging cases and makes the heads abettors in the act of ragging if they fail to take cognisance of the complaints made to them.

Mr Sidhu said that the practice of  ragging has become rampant and has now acquired serious proportions which has cost the sanity and even lives of some students. The Governor expressed satisfaction that the Goa government has passed such a bill. The bill  which was framed in 2006 was passed by the assembly in 2007.

According to the article 4 of the act, the principal of the institution acquires the powers to act as a judge. Any incident of ragging has to be reported to the principal. Within 7 days of receiving any complaint of ragging the principal is expected top prepare a factual report.

A student who is found to be guilty could end up being rusticated from the institute and depending upon the gravity of the act, the principal is entitles to refer the complaint to the police for further action. The principal, if found failing to take any action, would be considered to be an abettor to the act.

With colleges and schools reopening for the current academic year, the act seems to have been enforced at the appropriate time as the governor hoped for its effective implementation. The governor also stressed that it is the primary responsibility of the management of educational institutions and teachers to prevent ragging and also advised parents and guardians to counsel their wards to behave more responsibly while interacting with their juniors in the institutes.

Farmers in Rawanfond Goa, to fight for their land

Farmers  in Rawanfond in south Goa are in an agitation mode and are in no  mood to listen to the government who has acquired their land to rehabilitate displaced traders by displacing the farmers from their traditional paddy fields which many of them claim, are their sole means of earning their daily bread. In a meeting held  in the fields opp. KRC station, Margao to protest the illegal acquisition of fields and creation of a new slum area by the Govt. of Goa the farmers under the banner of "Navelchea Xetkariancho Ekvott" supported by Navelim Civic & Consumer Forum (NCCF) vowed to get their land back from the government and threatened to come to the streets to achieve the objective

The farmers along with the residents of Aquem-Baixo, Nalanda Apartments, Ravanfond & Davorlim assembled in large numbers to protest the forcible and illegal acquisition of lush green paddy fields and putting up slums in the area. People gathered and shouted slogans such as "Amchim Xettam amka zai" "Zopodpottio amkam naka", etc.( meaning " we want our farmland" " "we do not want slums")

President of N X E Mr. Dyneshwar Pednekar who is also a farmer and a professor of Law, described the fraud played by the Government to rob their fields. He requested the Government not to foist another "Nandigram" in Goa, as the farmers are determined, come what may to defend their rights of the fields.

Another farmer Natali Dias complained of Police harassment while cultivating the fields calling them encroachers in their own land. How can Govt. claim to have acquired the land when we have not received any compensation nor any notices? she asked. However the district collector  maintained that the award of compensation was completed way back, around eight years ago.

Cladais Dias another farmer told that they will continue their agitation and asserted that if the Govt. ignores their voice from here, then they would be forced to march to the Chief Ministers' residence, PWD Minister's residence, to the Collector's Office, and even to the Secretariat in Porvorim. Even a hunger strike is being contemplated to revert the acquisition.

Joseph Vaz of the Navelim civic and consumer Forum (NCCF) lamented that while all the fields belong to the Goan farmers, it being their main source of income, he questioned the need to acquire these fields for the sake of non-Goan shop owners/hutments to be rehabilitated in an area which would deprive Goan farmers of their sole means of earning.

Joseph Vaz secretary of NCCF, told the people that this Land Acquisition act of 1890 was used by the British to harass the Indian people then, but now this Government is using it to harass the aam aadmi. Where is our democracy? he lamented.

The NCCF also feared that the whole area would turn into another slum with hutments all over the area thus resembling another shambolic picture of the Moti Dongor slum and also felt the alarm of the present Moti Dongor residents being re-located in this area, thus making the village of Navelim into another slum infested area.