Mr.Rodrigues, ? Another example of pigs at the trough! ? This shameless behavior of corrupt NRI bagmen is aided and abetted by the Goanese abroad endorsing these junkets, but funded by the good people of Goa who have no say in the matter. In the name of Goan unity. Ha! Surely tax revenue generated in Goa should stay in Goa for the much needed improvements. Not help subsidize conventions such as the July junket and other ridiculous NRI programs [Know Goa Programme (KGP) and Goa Scholarship Program for Diaspora Children] which give affluent Goans a free pass. Where is the fairness? Those promoting these freebies in the name of global goan unity are in reality furthering their own agendas. ? Cheers, I. Nunes
Response: When Gabe asked a simple question about this on this forum, he got a rather terse reply from our whiter than white Selma Cardoso. We knew then that there was something fishy going on. I agree with Mr Nunes entirely. Goa has such poor infrastructure and this money should be spent on imp[roving the lot of goans in goa. I attended this convention for twenty minutes as a friend had invited me to listen to her talk. Three of us attended and paid £ 36 as entrance fee. I have no complaint about it. The talk was about mining in goa. It was well presented and thought provoking, yet these organisers who claim that they discuss issues of interest to Goa did not have time for question and answer session at the end of the talk. why? they allowed a sponsor to speak about smuggling of Sarees from Daman where he was posted as punishment by Shashikala Kakodkar and how Indira Gandhi brought in MISA and stopped all smuggling in India overnight. When a friend of mine questioned Eduardo Faleiro , the replies he got were very revealing. The first question was why this should be called Goan convention while the overwhelming majority (I reckon upwards of 98% but I am open to correction) of attendees were catholics. The answer was that he will be attending similar convention organised by Hindus in the US. So that makes it alright then! I hope the organisers will show some grace and refund the sum of £ 8500 that they got as donation. Goa's overdraft has gone up from about Rs1800 crores in 2005 when Kangress came to power to over Rs 5000 crores. It is shameful that educated people settled in London cannot see the clear wrong in taking such handouts. Anil Desai