Hi Maurice and Ashley, Before you get the idea that I'm "defending" the panchayats, please note:
* I am only saying, don't attack anyone for the wrong reasons. Literacy, rustic behaviour (specially in a village) or lack of education is not an issue. * Corruption and mal-administration needs to be definitely tackled, but while doing so, let's not make it easier for anyone to distract from the issues at hand. * It helps nobody's cause to allow politicians to portray protesters as an elitist bunch, quite out of touch with the sentiment of the not-so-elite majority, and willing to isolate themselves into a hopelessly tiny minority. Did we ever wonder why politicians (of all kinds) have managed to polarise a majority of the village (or constituency or State) behind them? I suspect they know we are going to isolate ourselves (by our attitudes) and are laughing all the way (to the bank?) as we so willingly oblige! No offence to anyone. But if anyone of us wants to change Saligao, or even retain some of its better aspects, we will have to take the unwashed, unlettered sections along with us and treat them with the respect due to any human being! FN PS: The words "unwashed, unletted" above are not used with any degree of seriousness. I think the poor and the illiterate can be wise in their own way, and the high-educated can be foolish and corrupt too! There is simply no correlation between these two. 2009/10/8 Maurice Britto <[email protected]> > Rico you can't be serious.....!!! To argue mere semantics when Alice's > message was one of total frustration is unbelievable. For those of us who > were there at the Gram Sabha, her message was absolutely on point. > > Everything that was brought up or suggested was dismissed by the > Panchayatt. It was a total charade. Nothing was resolved, every question > that was put forth by the members were either dismissed or side tracked. > Everything that could have been a bone of contention at the meeting, the > person concerned, was told to come to the Panchayatt office to address. When > members objected claiming that these issues affected the entire village and > needed to be resolved at the Gram Sabha, they were shouted down. The meeting > was wrapped up even before members could hear what had been minuted by the > secretary. Diego had to actually go to the podium and take the book to > ensure that there was no manipulation of the minutes. > > I am quite sure you would have felt the same level of frustration we did > with the complete disregard to the purpose and procedure of the Gram Sabha. > -- Frederick Noronha :: +91-832-2409490 Writing, editing, alt.publishing, photography, journalism Blog: http://fredericknoronha.wordpress.com Photos: http://photosfromgoa.notlong.com Goa,1556: http://goa1556.goa-india.org --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ This message comes via the Google Groups "Saligao-Net" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/saligao-net?hl=en Please post regularly to keep the e-village active! -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
