We need to publicly applaud Health Minister and Valpoi MLA Vishwajit Rane for having had the courage to publicly oppose the proposed IIT at Melauli in his constituency which was vehemently opposed by the locals as it was being high-handedly set up against their wishes on very rich fertile soil.
We should commend the impoverished residents of Melauli and the neighbouring villages who stood firmly in opposing that project there. We cannot also forget the Goans across Goa who demonstrated against this project which was strongly opposed by the local tribals. Not forgetting our brothers who had to spend time in jail last week for standing up for the Truth. Let us hope that Chief Minister Pramod Sawant will care to heed to the voice of his very own cabinet Minister and the people of Melauli in scrapping that needless project which the locals have unanimously opposed. In this current raging pandemic Chief Minister Pramod Sawant should take carefully considered decisions based on expert advice and more importantly in full consultation with the local people that it impacts on. Projects must always be for the common good. Forcing through half-baked ideas will always result in half-baked outcomes, rejected and halted by those that have been ignored. In a democracy, and hopefully we are still in one, it is the will of the people that has to prevail at all times. People’s voices at no time can be silenced or undermined. After all, a well-founded Democracy will always have at its heart the principles of ‘’A government by the people, of the people, and for the people’’. Melauli and indeed other projects have shown that Good Governance can never materialize if people are not consulted, not taken into confidence and not at the heart of any proposed development. Let us hope that Chief Minister Pramod Sawant will learn the lessons of Melauli and understand that he has to move from what people perceive as dictatorial actions with the use of police force rather than through the rule of law and co-operation of the very people that he and his government has been elected to serve. Never again must skewed projects be conceived and rammed down the throats of people without their consent and approval. While we commend the people of Melauli for having displayed their commitment to their rich fertile soil and their principles, we have to condemn the inexcusable behavior of local Police Inspector Sagar Ekoskar for having breached the law and exceeded all his permissible limits. It would however be very unfair to rake in SP Crime Sobit Saksena who since his arrival in Goa has been a very upright and no-nonsense officer. Time will reveal the Truth. Abraham Lincoln said ’No man is good enough to govern another man without that other’s consent.’ Herbert Lehman, the American statesman rightly opined that, ‘You can’t run a Government solely on a business basis. Government should be human and should have a heart’. Aires Rodrigues Advocate High Court C/G-2, Shopping Complex Ribandar Retreat, Ribandar – Goa – 403006 Mobile No: 9822684372 Office Tel No: (0832) 2444012 Email: [email protected] Or [email protected] You can also reach me on Facebook.com/ AiresRodrigues Twitter@rodrigues_aires www.airesrodrigues.com
