Dears, You may possibly read this in tomorrow's newspaper, perhaps not. It is difficult to suppress the truth. That is why our founding fathers wrote below the national Emblem of the Ashoka Stamb "SATYAMEVA JAYATE" Truth Triumphs!
Power to the People. Mog asundi. Miguel ........................................................................................ The Editor, Gomantak Times, Gomantak Bhavan, St. Inez, Panaji, Goa. While Peaceful Society respects the right of an individual to freedom of opinion and expression, we would like to clarify the misconceptions and flawed inferences that were allowed to creep into the editorial in Gomantak Times dated 29/5/2008. The facts of the case are; Peaceful Society was never approached by the Task Force on the RP-2021 to undertake the Pilot Project for formulating the Village Development Plans. This fact has been reported in an earlier write-up in GT on this very matter. It was the Council for Social Justice and Peace which was approached by the Task Force in the first week of December 2007. Subsequently, CSJP requested the Centre for Panchayati Raj – Peaceful Society for necessary technical assistance for the project. The cooperation of Peaceful Society in the Pilot Project was a mutual understanding between the 2 organisations and not with the Task-force. Accordingly, CSJP submitted a proposal in the mid-December 2008 for adopting 6 villages and 3 municipal areas for the Pilot Project with a time frame of 4 months (January 2008 to April 2008) after consulting with CPR – Peaceful Society. On February 7, 2008 the Task force called a meeting with CSJP which was also accompanied by Peaceful Society to check the progress. The Task force itself expressed surprise at noticing that the necessary notifications and approvals for the Pilot Project were still not processed. The Task force which was apologetic for the lapse then requested CSJP whether it could complete the Village Plans for at least 2 villages by the end of April 2008 so that it could include them in the interim report. CSJP agreed provided the necessary sanctions are obtained. The nodal officers assured the Task Force members that the matter would be speeded up. Surprisingly, in the third week of February 2008 (after 2 months) the nodal-officers of the Task force informed CSJP about the objections raised by the concerned departments that it was not a registered body and therefore financial assistance to them for the project was not possible. The matter was taken up with the Chief Minister at his residence at the instance of the Nodal Officers on the Task Force and in the interest of Panchayati Raj and the people of Goa, CSJP suggested that Peaceful Society would take on the responsibility of the finances so that the project was not hampered. On March 31, 2008 (one month later) CSJP and Peaceful Society were informed that the notification on the Pilot Project was published. On that very day it was pointed out that CSJP's name was omitted and necessary steps should be taken to rectify the matter. Thereafter, the issue was also discussed in 2 meetings with the Secretary TCP who is the Chairperson of the State Level Coordination Team for the Pilot Project and it was categorically agreed that CSJP's name would be notified within a week. CSJP conveyed that it will not collaborate without its name being notified in the SLCT by the government. Simultaneously, Peaceful Society also brought to the notice of the SLCT that one clause laid down in the conditions for transfer of finances could not be adhered to because of the various State laws governing the accounting norms for NGOs. In fact Peaceful Society even went to the extent of proposing that either the government make amendments in its various laws governing the procedures of finance management for a Charitable / Social organisation or else to bring a change in one clause out of 15 clauses of the said notification. Peaceful Society was promised that a change in the clause would be carried out. It was also pointed out that in the event that the government has any problem in transferring the finances due to technical reasons, it would be acceptable to Peaceful Society that the government manages the funds for the project. Thereafter, there has been no further communication in this regard. Even during the press conference on May 7, 2008 called by the Task-force to release the interim-report of the Task Force for RP 2021, the Chief Minister is on record assuring to notify the name of CSJP and proceed with the formulation of village plans. Meanwhile, Peaceful Society along with CSJP went ahead with the initial preparatory work including contacting the external resource agencies / persons, designing various formats for study, all at its own cost. Under the above mentioned circumstances, we wish to state that; Peaceful Society does not enjoy the luxury of over looking State laws that govern the accounting norms to be adhered to by NGOs. The auditor's opinion on financial matters also needs to be respected. Peaceful Society is accountable to its governing board members for all activities and transactions and the existing systems of administration cannot be by-passed. Peaceful Society has not entered into any formal agreement with the government on the Pilot project and mere notification of an organisation's name in the official government gazette does not amount to acceptance of the project. CPR-Peaceful Society's submissions on District/Village Planning have not even been considered in the interim report on the RP2021 and it was in no way consulted on the draft of the interim report. Therefore, to infer that Peaceful Society is responsible for the failure of the Pilot project on Village Planning is unfair and it would have been appreciated if Gomantak Times had adhered to the ethical practice of affording an opportunity to the concerned parties to place the facts of the case before passing any judgments. When Peaceful Society has made its position very clear in the meetings with the Task Force and SLCT it is not proper to blame the organisation for the failures of Goa Bachao Abhiyan. ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: soter <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Date: Thu, May 29, 2008 at 10:02 PM Subject: Peacefuls's clarifiation on GT Editorial To: Miguel Braganza <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, -- -.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-. Miguel Braganza, S1 Gracinda Apts, Rajvaddo, Mhapsa 403507 Goa Ph 9822982676 [EMAIL PROTECTED] -.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.
