Date: Tue, 30 Jun 2009 04:01:43 -0700 (PDT) From: Carvalho <[email protected]>
Soter D'Souza is fooling himself if he thinks that gram sabha disarray is an "urban elitist" problem created by the "ambitions and greed of the rich and famous". When I have a little time I will write a long post on exactly how much a perversion of democracy these institutions are and to think that they could be empowered to take decisions binding on the State is a frightening thought, not to the "urban, rich and famous" but to the poor, disempowered, disenfranchised and voiceless people of Goa. Mario wonders: Yeah, yeah, yeah! I am holding my breath to hear these pearls of wisdom:-)) While you are at it, I hope you will tell us whether the "perversion of democracy" at the Gram Sabha level is a systemic problem or a problem of citizen apathy, where the "the poor, disempowered, disenfranchised and voiceless people of Goa" can be empowered, enfranchised and have a voice if they were motivated enough. Also, what would a more democratic system look like? I recall you have previously shown a preference for a department at the state government level - at least as far as building permits are concerned - which, with the endemic corruption in Goa, is hardly any less of a "perversion of democracy" than a sound system perverted only by citizen apathy.
