I have been keenly following the CAG's indictment of the Government of Goa with respect to various departments and how blatantly incompetent they have been reduced to, making heavy losses to the public treasury. But the funny part is that on the one side the public treasury is emptied alright, but on the other side the pocket of those who are in charge of these departments are growing in girth. If it was purely incompetence that ruled, we would have sighed a sigh of relief. There is a limit to growing thick skins. Aren't we Goans shameless? Oh no! Not the ones who have grown thick skins. I mean 'we' who are the passive onlookers and by-standers who compulsively fall in lines to vote during election times. This is well explain by this classic example.
" A retired Indian Airlines Officer when approached during the 2007 Assembly elections (Aldona Constituency) flatly told me that he was not going to vote this time around. When asked 'why' he said "Why?" , because I am yet to see a election time gift. People have received sarees, mobile phones, radios and even TVs. I will vote even if I get a bucket, or else I am going to stay at home" We read in today's papers that the Health Minister is finalizing another corporation. The cheek of it all is that any Tom Dick and Harry who lends his support to form the government now a days, enjoys the right to make long-term and very expensive policies. [This Bill, best pill - GT - 27/8- front page] There is a limit to such blackmail. A Sarpanch is removed from office through no-confidence motion. And the new one to occupy the chair boasts of the help given to him by a minister and an MLA. [Joseph back as Rachol Sarpanch - Herald 27/8 Pg. 4]. One can see the engineering that is going on. The thinking is: If I have my man at the helm, I have the right of way. Therefore, I am not wrong when I say that almost most Sarpanches are puppets, dancing to the tunes of the politicians. And should there be any one Sarpach who will not tote the politician's line, he is out. The Urban Development Ministry has taken Goans for a jolly good ride over Sonsodo and Goa's garbage in general through HYQUIP. One feels like crying the tears of frustration when tin-pot dadas are taking Goans for a ride through their commanding vote-banks. The line is: 'You vote for me and I will do things for you" And these are the things they do when they are elected. [Claude Alvares' expose on Sonsodo-Hyquip-Joaquim Alemao joy-ride] There is a limit to such frauds. The Sonsodo dump is the best place to compost these 'chors', sprayed through AK47s, all in one go. I am sure Goans will celebrate to have a stink like that for once. And to think that on top of this plunder, they invade our households through their sanctimonious (revolting) speeches in the Legislative Assembly telecast live through TV Channels. We Goans haven't had time enough to forget the expose brought out by Deccan Herald, courtesy Devika Sequeira in its 24/Aug/08 edition captioned ' GOA: Lawyer's bid to clean Augean stable' where Vishwajeet Rane, our esteemed Health Minister; Babush Monserrate, our esteemed Education Minister; the Protector of Law Judge Shekar Parab and many others have been playing pocket billiards together. Rajan Parrikar is very right when he says "Goa's villains close ranks" There is no doubt left in our minds that after having failed to get our back-boneless chief minister to walk straight and tough, they are now tying splints to his weak back-bone so that he may walk aggressively for once to curtail the growing aggressive march of the GRAM SABHAS. And he might just do that. After all the leader of the 'villains' has saved him from suffocating to death in the BJP's Gas Chamber... In'nit? However, there is a glimmer of hope when one reads headlines like these " UGUEM PANCHAS RESIGN EN MASSE' [ GT- 27/8- Pg. A2] But this glimmer of hope vanes when it comes to Aldona Panchayat members resigning en masse even after being gheraoed by the mob of people demanding their mass resignation in the presence of a heavy contingent of police with top police brass and Mamlatdars officiating or protecting the villain Panchayat members. [ Aldona VP accused of hiding projects from public scrutiny & Aldona panchayat adopts dual policy on structures - [Herald - 27/8 - Pg.7] The Benaulim people's demand is very sensible and just when they demand that the entire Panchayat Raj system be erased from the face of Goa. Infact, it is a shame to saddle Goa with this ineffective and incompetent self-governing system when Goa has its CLASS institutions called the COMUNIDADES, which are being deliberately pushed and pulled to reduce them to ribbons. Who needs these chor Panchayats? And the people who are whining endlessly trying to get more powers to these 'Chor' Panchayats through the Constitutional 73rd amendment must be banned as well from operating in Goa. Let them first bring in the deserved self-respect to the Panchayat Raj Act through its complete and fool-proof amendment and then whine for more powers to them. This will be legitimate. And last but not the least, it is unfortunate for Goa that Goa's conscience keepers and those who are painstakingly holding ladders for lesser sinners and helping them to to climb the difficult rungs to heaven are giving Christmas tea parties and making merry with the honourably elected 'chors' OF THE FIRST ORDER who are looting Goa and Goans by day and by night. A veritable shame in deed. There is no denying the fact that 'GOAN GET THE GOVERNANCE THEY DESERVE BEST' in spite of all their excellence and righteousness (which is a joke, really). And this is more specifically emphasized through the letter to the editor (Star Letter) published in Herald, 27th August 2008 captioned "The dangling sword" by Reuben S from Chicalim where he says that there is no Goan Regional Party of standing to protect our interests. Reuben is wrong and miserably so, because he , at best, does not know that there is a very strong Regional Party in Goa since the year 2000, nine years to the hilt to be more precise, which is built solely to protect the interests of Goa and Goans. But the only things is that, this Party, unlike most of its predecessors and current contemporaries, will not force itself on Goans with money to lure them to it but will wait until Goans come looking for it, preferably with a torch light in time to come, dipping into their pockets at the same time for small change towards their contribution for its LEGITIMATE growth. Cheers floriano goasuraj www.goasu-raj.org
