Mauvin has compared the people of Goa to a bunch of obstreperous school kids simply because the people have been unanimously demanding that the regional plan 2021 be demolished. He gives a kind of justification by saying that school kids universally do not wish to attend school therefore school cannot be done away with. Can anyone in his right mind call this an apt comparison? Or is the Person in charge of the Congress Election Machine thinking that by making this seemingly 'profound' pronouncement the people of Goa are going to accede to this faulty regional plan and bow down to the wishes of the politicians who have an eye on their own personal well being in the post rp 2021 era?
Mauvin seems to have got it all wrong. May be this is because as a student he was more interested in politicking than in understanding the concept of Democracy. To quote Lincoln, "Democracy is a government **of the people**, **for the people**, **by the people** This being the case, it is the people who will decide what is good for themselves and not a bunch of 40 people who are trying to lord it over them. People are opposed to the widening of roads simply because they are forced to do so by circumstances. Take our villages which date way back in time. In those days, the prime mode of transportation on land was by foot or at the most by an animal driven buggy. It is but natural that the roads in our villages were what were known as 'pain vato' or 'pai'ns'. During the former regime and during the early years post 1962 cars and cabs were few and far in between. So the question of broad roads did not arise. After an upturn in the economy and liberalization of manufacture, vehicular traffic has grown exponentially. This was never dreamt of by the planners of our villagers even in the most frightening and horrible of their nightmares. So it was but natural that the houses were built with balconies, walls etc touching the pai'ns which subsequently were upgraded to roads. Now to broaden the roads suddenly will lead to demolition of compound walls, walls of houses and acquisition of property. Is this rocket science to understand? Our villagers are basically opposed to broadening of roads also because it will lead to a proliferation of 'mega projects' or rather large scale housing which will in turn destroy the demographics of the village. Goa is a choice destination for a second or retirement home. No sensible villager wants to see his own village full of empty houses bought by a lot of absentee landlords who are strangers to the place. Mauvin seems to display a kind of arrogance which can be the result of power going to the heads of the members of the ruling party. Elections are well nigh and if politicians think they can pull the wool over our eyes all the time, they are sadly mistaken. -- **"Tony de Sa" < tonydesa at gmail dot com >** --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Protect Goa's natural beauty Support Goa's first Tiger Reserve Sign the petition at: http://www.goanet.org/petition/petition.php ---------------------------------------------------------------------------