India Starving
BEING extremely engrossed with the IPL and the BCCI–both money-spinners–Mr Sharad Pawar paid no heed to his responsibilities as Agriculture Minister. Sugar shortage, inflation in food products, extreme frustration among the poor farmers and now rotting of sixty-one thousand tonnes of foodgrain!

The Supreme Court has finally stepped in to order remedial distribution to the poor. How can state governments improve when the Centre’s performance is so piteous? How can Naxalism stop when the rich get richer and the poor poorer? Our projection of ‘India Shining’ is make-believe and surely deceitful.
ALIC ALEXANDER, Borda

Reining in the VPs
SOME of the village panchayats in Goa have been functioning in the most bizarre manner: Challenging the authority of the state, and even going against the spirit of the Indian Constitution. The elected panchayat members and the members of the village panchayats have been opposing almost everything proposed by the government authorities, as if the panchayats are the independent republics. Reasonable opposition is a part of democratic functioning; but to safeguard the interest of a few, pathological opposition at the cost of the general good of the community goes against the basic tenets of democracy. Promoting the general good of the population at large is the foundation of a welfare state. In this context, the recent judgement of the High Court of Bombay is indeed welcome. The HC upheld the authority of the Directorate of Panchayats to control the functioning of the village panchayats and it is legally binding on the part of the village panchayats to honour the order/directive issued by the Directorate of Panchayats.
SND POOJARY, Miramar

Prevention, Better than Cure
MUMBAI has a malaria epidemic, Delhi is overloaded with dengue patients and like the CWG fiasco, we never seem to learn. Foodgrains rot in the open whilst millions starve! Things are not given the timely serious attention they deserve. The reason is those responsible for this state of affairs escape any consequences for their negligence and sins of commission and omission! The River Princess saga, the tar balls on our beaches, the overflowing garbage bins say it all. It is high time the government and the people get together to tackle the problems in the state. Right from the chief minister to the pollution control board to the health and civic authorities. Cows and animals dying a horrible death due to consumption of plastics and garbage, rats, flies and the resultant diseases must be prevented before an epidemic breaks out in the state.
JOHN ERIC GOMES, Porvorim

Street Food
IT is seen that several fast-food stalls serving, what is considered as Chinese food, have mushroomed in make-shift tents outside bars, hotels and in the market place and seem to be an extension of these shops. It is seen that the main food-items served here are fried-rice, gobi-manchurian and noodle dishes. At some places even tandoori chicken is made available. But do these food stalls have the necessary NOC from the Health Department? Is any check maintained on the quality of food served as well as the hygiene aspect? If not, necessary steps need to be taken by the concerned government department so that the health of the general public is not put at risk.
ADELMO FERNANDES, Vasco

KTC: Burden on State Exchequer
THOUGH the KTC created ‘to provide safe, reliable, time-saving, efficient, comfortable and affordable services for Goa’s multitude’ is seen to have accomplished this objective, it continues to be a white elephant for the government. On the pretext of turning around the fortunes of the corporation, time and again measures were taken to ensure that the state carrier came out of the red. The nationalisation of the highway shuttle and normal bus service between the Capital city, Margao and Vasco was the first of a series of remedial actions taken. In spite of having complete monopoly on these highly-profitable routes, it failed to bring the KTC back on track. The state-run road transport undertaking needs to formulate drastic cuts and strictures to get it out of the doldrums. The attitude of it’s employees–especially drivers and conductors–has a lot to say for this sorry state of affairs. As things stand, given a choice between a Kadamba and a private bus, the public readily opt for the latter, even if complaints of passengers ‘getting stuffed like sardines’ abound against the private bus operators. Near-to-empty KTC buses are a common sight. It is indeed appalling that the driver-conductor duos do not find it worthwhile to halt at designated stops to take in passengers. This comes out of an arrogance developed over their self-assumed status as government servants which does not call for any accountability. The government has woken up rather late to the fact that there are several drivers and conductors who are unfit and collecting their salaries without much contribution to the corporation. Extending ‘compulsory retirement schemes’ rather than ‘voluntary’ to such personnel should serve them right!
PACHU MENON, MARGAO