---------------------------------------------------------- What's On In Goa: * Oct 16-17: Ornithology workshop, Bondla southernbirdwing.com * Oct 16-27: Vipasana meditation, Alto Porvorim * Oct 24: Antonio Pereira Puraskar (Award) ceremony, Porvorim ----------------------------------------------------------
I attended Patricia Pinto's talk on civic issues in Goa, particularly Panaji. She informed that the People's Movement for Civic Action has been able to galvanize the citizens into activism and, hence, chances have taken place in Goa's civic culture. She spoke at length about the "plastic-free Goa" campaign, the issue of privatisation of Mira Mar beach, garbage collection and disposal in villages and cities, public hygiene, the problems in the red-light area of Baina, and the boom in residential construction in the cities. Patricia gave the credit to the 73rd and 74th Amendments to the Indian Consitution. The 73rd provides constitutional status to Panchayati Raj Institutions, and the 74th gives women one-third representation in any municipality, among other things. She admitted that she was elected from a seat reserved for women out of the total six in Panaji. One woman councillor was elected from the non-designated seat, bringing the total to seven out of 18. When I asked if 18 was not a high number for a small city such as Panaji, she shot back that Goa is small but has 40 MLAs. She was articulate. Her talk was punctuated with few jokes. Patricia noted that people have become aware of civic responsibilites and environmental consciousness. She said that the process has begun and there's a long way to make Goa a healthier and cleaner place. She also prasied worked done by Goa Foundation, and Goa DESC. As Edgar mentioned, there were not more than 25 people to hear her on a weekday. I was also surprised to see people who came to hear something on Goa as I had never seen these people at major events on Goan issues. Edgar was right that most of them were relatives and friend. Though Al Mathias, one of the "office-bearers", if I may use the word of the International Goan Organization, remarked that Wednesday was a group prayer day and many Goans in Mississauga couldn't attend the talk. Some were spouses of the "office-bearers" in the IGO. In reality, there were just a couple of us with genuine interest in Goa< In a way, I was also there for a major reason - to cover the event for the weekly paper I edit for South Asian in Toronto. I wrote an exhaustive report with a big photo of Patricia. If GoaNow is interested I can send the report and the photo. This home-based prayer group is a new phenomenon that has started in the Goan community. I was invited for it, but politely declined. He's right about the IGO in calling it"moribund". I would go further and add that it's an undemocratic body that is presided or ruled by Zulema de Souza. The IGO mayy I have a bias against the organization. As a matter of fact, I have written time and again against it, more so because of its structure and functioning, including a piece in the Opinion Page in Navhind Times on the opening day of the International Youth Conference held many years ago. To the best of my knowledge, IGO has a handful of members. I am told that membership is open and without any membership dues. I don't want to go into details here, but rather keep it for another day. Eugene Corriea __________________________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Faith Hill - Exclusive Performances, Videos & More http://faith.yahoo.com ======================================================================== To view GoaNet's archives http://groups.yahoo.com/group/goa-net ======================================================================== For (un)subscribing or for help, contact: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Don't want so many e-mails? Join GoaNet-Digest instead!
