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AGEnCIES

NAGPUR, AUG 1

A rattled Rashtriya Swayamse-vak Sangh (RSS) has voiced wor-ries over the usage of the termHindu terror and appealed toall Hindu social and religiousleaders to work to remove theblot of a terror tag given bysome to the religion.

RSS ideologue M G alias Babu-rao Vaidya alleged that the termHindu terror was being used towoo Muslim votes in the countryin an attempt to defame Hindus.

The word Hindu terror hasearned its place in the mediaand no one knows who inventedit. Though somebody givescredit to NCP president SharadPawar, others say it was Con-gress general secretary DigvijaySingh who has coined the con-cept, Vaidya wrote in his weeklycolumn in a local Marathi daily.

Vaidya admitted that AbhinavBharat and Sanatan Sanstha, aGoa based right wing Hindu or-ganisation, have been accused

by the government of involve-ment in violence and some ar-rests made. But, he noted thatnone of the accused have beenconvicted by the courts till date.

Those who had ea r l i e rclaimed that terrorism has noth-ing to do with religion were nowgiving Hindu terror tag to theHindu community to justify thatterrorism was not just restrictedto Islam but also to other reli-gion (Hinduism), he said.

Vaidya called upon all reli-gious and social leaders to takeinitiative to remove the terrorblot on Hindus.

Swami Vishweshatitha of Ud-dipi, Dr Pandya of Gayatri Parivar,noted Yoga Guru Baba Ramdevand Dayanand Saraswati ofCoimbatore should tell the gov-ernment to ensure that Hindusare not defamed, he said.

Should we call it Congressterror when 3000 Sikhs were mas-sacred in Delhi in 1984 when riotsbroke out after assassination ofIndira Gandhi, Vaidya asked.

TRACKING THE RAIN FURY: A landslide at Valachil on the outskirts of Mangalore city has stopped Yeshwantpur Express in its tracks while onits way to Mangalore. The mud has slid on to the track, forcing the train to halt at Bantwal station.

By BInDIyA CHARI

PANJIM, AUG 1

Why does Ela Farm at Old Goahave 84 field workers eventhough it has less area undercultivation than other farms ofthe agriculture department?

In fact, 84 fields workers atEla Farm are virtually having afield day while the agriculturedepartment continues to bearhuge expenditure in terms ofsalaries of staff to the tune ofRs 2. 12 crore annually , whileits income has been meagreRs 11.83 lakhs for 2009-2010.

Most field workers postedat Ela Farm hail from the con-stituency of Agriculture Min-ister, Vishwajit Rane.

In the last three years 94persons were recruited by theagriculture department withmajority of the recruitmentsbeing from Sattari taluka .

After their recruitmentsthey were posted at variousfarms of the department butthey managed to revoke their

transfer orders, an agricultureofficer informed on conditionof anonymity.

Most of them dont do anywork and run home early butthey are not questioned forobvious reasons, he com-plained .Information obtainedby this reporter under theRight to Information (RTI) Actrevealed that Ela Farm has

13.75 hectares of area undercultivation with 84 field work-ers whereas Coddar farm inPonda has 58.02 hectares ofarea under cultivation withhardly 29 workers to cater tomango, cashew, oil palms andarecanut plantations. Plus, italso grows vegetables andneeds more fields workers to

84 workers having afield day at Ela Farm

Income & Expenditure of farms2009-10 (Rs / lakhs)

Name area INcome exp

Ela Farm 13.75 ha 11.83 229.65

Codar farm 58.02 ha 22.45 97.11

Dhuler farm 2.7 ha 9.52 57.46

Kalay farm 47.00 ha 17.96 156.55

Dhave farm 4.67 ha 1.46 30.00

Pernem farm 10.00 ha 2.39 31.50

Pilerne farm N.A. NA N.A.

Margao farm 3.14 ha 4.31 35.95

Durga farm 1.07 ha NA NA

Hindu terror taghas RSS worrying

HERALD REPORTER

PANJIM, AUG 1

Strongly criticizing the Direc-torate of Technical Educationfor the shortage of teaching fac-ulty members in institutions, alegislative panel has disapprovedthe government policy of ap-pointing teachers on contract.

The committee disapprovesthe contract based recruitmentas teachers leave frequently leav-ing an adverse effect on the stu-dents, the adhoc committeeon education, chaired by Aldinalegislator Dayanand Narvekar,said in its report tabled in theassembly.

On the shortage of teachers,the committee says it under-stands the difficulties faced bythe GPSC to get teachers withrequired qualifications.

but the committee is dis-mayed at the state of affairs ofthe Directorate of Technical Ed-ucation in controlling and ad-ministering the institutionsunder its domain, the reportsays.

DTE gets lessonon vacancies

The committee is shocked tonote that not only teachingposts are vacant but non-teach-ing posts are also vacant for along time.

When there is such a largeworkforce outside waiting forjobs, it seems ridiculous to leave

Twenty-three people, mostlyfrom two Haryana villages,were today killed when atruck ferrying Kanwarias(Shiva devotees) fell into agorge in Uttarkashi

district of Uttarakhand.The truck, which was on its onway to Gangotri, fell into the150-metre deep gorge killing23 people, including thedriver and the cleaner. (PTI)

23 pilgrims die in mishap

PTI

NEW DELHI, AUG 1

The CCS (Cabinet committee onsecurity) tonight reviewed thesituation in Kashmir valley inthe wake of renewed violencethat has claimed 13 lives in threedays with the Centre ready tohelp the Omar Abdullah govern-ment in all possible ways to re-store calm.

Official sources said after the75-minute meeting of the Cab-inet Committee on Security(CCS)that the Jammu and KashmirChief Minister will meet PrimeMinister Manmohan Singh to-morrow for discussions on thepolitical and administrativesteps that would be needed tobe taken to defuse the escalatingsituation.

The meeting, which was con-vened by the prime minister,discussed threadbare the stepstaken by the government and

its handling of the situation ona day when seven people losttheir lives in separate incidentsof violence.

The sources said the meetingvoiced its resolve to help theState government in all possibleways.

The sources also said themeeting underscored the needfor adequate backup for theCRPF and state police while deal-ing with protestors.

Meeting for the second timein less than a month, the CCStook stock of the situation inKashmir valley where renewedunrest since Friday put the Stategovernment under strain at atime when violence appearedto be ebbing.

While there was no word of-ficially on the meeting, sourcessaid that the ministers reviewedthe situation in totality.

CCS meets asfresh violencehits Kashmir

BJP readyfor talks onprice riseimpasse

PTI

NEW DELHI, AUG 1

Prospects of an end to the im-passe in parliament over theprice rise issue appeared brighttoday with Bharatiya Janata Party(BJP) saying, if invited, it wouldattend the breakfast meetingproposed by leader of the housein Lok Sabha Pranab Mukherjeeto diffuse the logjam.

We have already given a no-tice under Rule 184 in Lok Sabhaand Rule 168 in Rajya Sabha,which entail voting, for Monday.But, if invited, we will attendthe breakfast meeting proposedby leader of the house in LokSabha Pranab Mukherjee to takea decision on ending the im-passe, Deputy Leader of BJP inRajya Sabha S S Ahluwalia said.

He was talking to reportersafter a meeting of NDA leadersheld at senior leader L K Advanisresidence. Among others, it wasattended by Leader of Opposi-tion in Lok Sabha SushmaSwaraj, Ahluwalia and NDA Con-venor and JD(U) PresidentSharad Yadav.

Though Mukherjee discussedthe issue with opposition lead-ers, sources said no formal in-vitation for the proposedbreakfast meeting was sent. Nei-ther were the Opposition lead-ers aware of the time and venueof the meeting.

Ahluwalia, however, clarifiedthat BJP had not yet taken afinal decision on its futurecourse of action in both housesof parliament on the price riseissue.

In todays meeting, leaderof opposition in Rajya SabhaArun Jaitley was not present sono final decision was taken. Wewill also talk to him tomorrowmorning before taking a deci-sion, Ahluwalia said.

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GOA, MONDAY, 2 AUGUST, 2010

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HERALD REPORTER

MARGAO, AUG 1

The gram sabha of Guirdolimpanchayat on Sunday resolvedto ask kerosene dealers in thevillage to display boards statingthe quota received by them fordistribution to the villagers.

At the Sunday gram sabha,the issue over the availability ofkerosene figured at the meeting,when members sought to knowhow many dealers are registeredwith the authorities and thequota received by them.

Sarpanch Jose Antao said the

Guirdolim pyat to ask kerosenedealers to display quota received

gram sabha also decided to con-stitute the ward developmentcommittee by requesting themembers to suggest names torepresent their respective wards.He said the ward member hasbeen asked to take the initiativeto suggest names of the wardand place the same before themeeting for approval.

The meeting also resolved toidentify suitable land for theconstruction of a new panchayatghar. Members have been toldto identify the land and place

the proposal before the nextgram sabha for discussion.

The meeting unanimously re-solved to keep the Panchayat officeopen on Sundays as per the requestof the villagers. The Panchayat officewill remained closed on Monday,the Sarpanch informed.

He said that proposed to layinterlocking pavers connectingthe Church to Mount Hill hasbeen approved. The meetingalso deliberated on the 49 newBPL names placed before thegram sabha.

HERALD REPORTER

MARGAO, AUG 1

The Assolna gram sabha on Sun-day deliberated on the free useof drugs in the childrens park,besides other pressing issuesaffecting the village

Deputy Sarpanch Loraine Ro-drigues, who chaired the meet-ing, informed the gram sabhamembers that the panchayathad received a representationfrom the Parish Council over theuse of drugs in the Assolna chil-drens park.

She told the members thatthe panchayat has written lettersto the Deputy Superintendentof Police, Margao, the Anti-Nar-cotics Cell, besides the Cuncolimpolice station for necessary ac-tion.

Members expressed their an-guish over the development anddemanded that any misuse ofthe park for drugs should benipped in the bud.

The gram sabha also dis-cussed the contentious issue ofgarbage disposal and it was de-cided to identify suitable landfor disposal of the waste.

Members pointed out that theNGOs are working out a solutionto the garbage woes affectingthe villages of Assolna, Velimand Chinchinim and suggestedto the panchayat to ascertainthe proposal mooted by the NGOto solve the burning issue.

Agitated members demandedto know from the panchayatover the delay in removing thefish baskets stored in the marketafter business hours. The mem-bers were assured that the pan-chayat would ask the fishvendors to remove the basketsand ice stored in the marketpremises.

Members demanded that thepanchayat should crack a whipagainst mobile carts found sta-tionary in the market area. Theypointed out that mobile cartsare moving around as per thelicense conditions and de-manded action against theerring carts.

The meeting resolved to writea letter to the Sports depart-ment to ascertain the questionof land availability for construc-tion of a market complex.

Assolna deliberateson free use of drugsin childrens park

HERALD REPORTER

PANJIM, AUG 1

Chief Minister Digambar Kamathas said while dispensing newsthe journalists should considerlarger interest of the society andshould not give negative reportsjust for the sake of it. Kamatwas speaking at a function or-ganised by the Goa Union ofJournalists (GUJ) at GUJ officeon Sunday here to commemo-rate the death centenary of BalGangadhar Tilak. August 1 isalso celebrated as Journalist Day.

Remembering the immensecontribution of Bal GangadharTilak, the chief minister said therole of journalists then and nowhas undergone sea change butthey cannot ignore welfare ofthe people and should voice

their opinions.The Chief Minister garlanded

the portrait of Titak and laterreleased a booklet containingschemes for journalists pub-lished by the Department of In-formation and Publicity (DIP).

The President of the GUJPrakash Kamat gave the wel-come speech. Paresh Prabhu,Executive Editor of Navprabhain his key address elaboratedabout the role played by Goanjournalists in building fourth es-tate in the early twentieth cen-tury.

The Special invitee MeninoPeres, Director, DIP speaking onthis occasion, said schemes ofthe government should also beextended to journalists workingin the rural areas.

Scribes should considerinterest of society

while dispensing news

GOA, MONDAY, 2 AUGUST, 2010

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(Left) A view of the St Annes Church, Santan-Talaulim. (Right) A devotee places his child before the statue of St Anne on the occasion ofTouxeachem Fest (cucumber feast) on Sunday. Besides a huge number of devotees across Goa, many newly-wed couples attend the feastto seek the Saints blessings. Photos by Rozario Estibeiro

HERALD REPORTER

PANJIM, AUG 1

Condemning the mamlatdarsand joint mamlatdars for hugependency of mundkarial andtenancy cases, the Ad hocCommittee on Finance has rec-ommended that if necessarynew posts of deputy collectorsand mamlatdars be created toclear huge backlog of pendingcases.

The reason for pending oflarge number of cases is casualapproach shown by the mam-latdars and joint mamlatdars to-wards disposal of these cases,says Ad hoc Committee headed

by Calangute MLA Agnelo Fer-nandes in its report on Financewhich was tabled in the House,last week.

As informed by the govern-ment to the Committee, as onMarch 31, 2010,to ta l 17 ,540cases werepending withdeputy collec-tors and SDOs of North Goa dis-trict but pendency of cases inSouth Goa district was muchless. Total 6,563 cases werepending with deputy collectorsand SDOs of Salcete, Mormugao,Quepem and Canacona.

Ad hoc panel recommends creationof dy collectors, mamlatdars posts

Total pendency of cases withmamlatdars in South Goa was1,688 as on March 31, 2010 butin North Goa pendency of caseswas extraordinar i ly high;12,922 cases were awaiting dis-

posal in NorthGoa.

I n o r d i n a t edelay in disposalof the cases is

causing undue hardship to peo-ple who have to wait for yearsto get justice for no fault oftheirs. The delay in disposal ofcases has also resulted in addi-tional financial burden on thelitigants, pointed out Ad hoc

Committee.It has therefore recom-

mended that the governmentshould look into specific prob-lems faced by the mamlatdarsand joint mamlatdars so thattheir services could be utilisedexclusively for disposal of largenumber of pending variouscases.

Besides, the Committee hasreiterated its demand to createa separate election cell to dealwith the matters relating to elec-tion census survey so that offi-cers handling mundkarial andtenancy cases are not overbur-dened with additional duty.

PENDENCY OFTENANCY CASES

HERALD REPORTER

MARGAO, AUG 1

The prized solar shrimp is avail-able in abundance in the sea,but mechanised vessels operat-ing from the Cutbona fishingjetty could not venture out forfishing on Day One of the newseason due to hostile conditionsat the mouth of River Sal at Betuland the rough Arabian Sea.

Day One of the new seasonsaw majority of the vessels drop-ping anchor at the Cutbona Jetty.Only around 10-15 out of the200-odd mechanised fishing ves-sels from the Cutbona Jetty ven-turing out in the Arabian Sea.These purse seine vessels suc-cessfully overcame the condi-tions at the river mouth toventure into the sea this morn-ing. Though these vessels arebelieved to have netted themuch-sought after solar shrimpin tones, they could not returnback to the Cutbona Jetty withthe prized catch due to naviga-tional problems at the rivermouth.

Information revealed that 2-3 vessels are believed to havenetted the solar shrimp around3-4 tons each, indicating thepresence of the shrimp in the

sea. A kilogram of solar shrimpwas priced at Rs 85 at the Cut-bona fishing jetty, informedsources in the know.

Vice-President of the CutbonaBoat Owners Union, RooseveltAlemao said most of the fishingvessels could not take advantageof the situation, primarily dueto the rough conditions at theriver mouth and the delay in thearrival of the manpower.

The situation at the River

Sal mouth is indeed rough,making navigation a big prob-lem. Every year, the boat own-ers face this problem and thiscan be overcome only by gov-ernment intervention by build-ing a harbour a la Malpei, headded.

Indeed, small boat ownerssaid that it may take a week orso before they could hope ofventuring out in the sea to catchthe prized shrimp.

Apart from the perennial con-ditions at the river mouth, theboat owners this year are facedby the delay in the arrival of theworkforce from Jharkhand,Orissa and Karnataka. No doubt,the migrant labour from theseStates are making their presencefelt at the fishing jetty, but boatowners said that nearly 30-50per cent of the total workforceis yet to return back to the Statethis season.

Hostile conditions prevent mechanisedfishing vessels from venturing into sea

The hostile conditions at the River Sal mouth at Betul prevented mechanised vessels from venturingout in the Arabian Sea on Sunday. Photo by Santosh Mirajkar

HERALD REPORTER

PANJIM, AUG 1

The State governments plan toset up surveillance camerasthroughout the state to increasesurveillance has come under se-vere criticism from a legislativepanel.

In order to increase the se-curity and tackle terrorist threatto the State, government haddecided to set up unmannedsurveillance cameras across theState at junctions, publicplaces and places of strategicimportance.

The government had alsomade a budgetary provision ofRs 25 crore for the project.

However, the ad hoc com-mittee on Information Tech-nology, chaired by Aldonal e g i s l a t o r D a y a n a n dNarvekar has passed stric-tures on the project sayingthe gove rnment d id no tmake any study on the proj-ect before making budgetaryprovision.

The committee does not ap-prove the gesture of the gov-ernment in making budgetaryallocation when the basic plan-ning of the project was not com-plete, the committee report,which was tabled in the Assem-bly says.

The feasibility of the proj-ect is still on and Herald un-

Govts plan to set upsurveillance camerasunder severe criticism

derstands that the govern-ment plans to take it up onPPP model, wherein the re-sponsibility of getting ade-quate manpower to operatethe system would be on thecompany.

The committee feels thatthe gove rnment has no tmade a deep study on thesurveillance system. It is notenough to install a system,a thorough study on its ef-fectiveness and profitabilityshould have been undertakenside by side and as well asmaintenance, the reportsays adding it is a goodsystem provided it is usedeffectively.

It is also necessary to makethe project full proof by ex-amining it from all angles andalso as these are sensitive de-vice, its utility and mainte-nance also has to be lookedinto carefully, the reportstates.

HERALD REPORTER

PANJIM, AUG 1

While the Government has beenpromoting IFFI in a big way, thecondition of some of the cinematheatres in the State has re-mained pathetic even after theyobtained subsidy from the gov-ernment for up-gradation withlatest technology.

The Ad hoc Committee on Fi-nance in its report last week hasrecommended that the govern-ment should monitor that sub-sidy provided is used to thefullest extend for the purposefor which it has been providedas it found that despite takingsubsidy benefits from the gov-

ernment, the conditions of sometheatres has been pathetic.

The very idea to give subsidyfor the renovation of the the-atres is to upgrade their infra-structure on the lines of theinternational standards. It willalso help boost film culture inGoa, says Ad hoc Committeeon its report.

Subsidy disbursed to varioustheatres include Samrat theatre(Rs 57,74,648), Ashok theatre(Rs 39,18,119), Cine Lata (Rs15,53,600), Cine Shivam (Rs52,34,198), Vishant theatre (Rs38,77,908), Cine Paradise (Rs2,22,076), Cine Alankar (Rs19,02,516), National theatre (Rs

25,07,539), Nandi theatre (Rs29,710), Cine Radhakrishna (Rs77 ,163 ) , H i ra Ta lk ies (Rs5,28,548) and Cine Niagara (Rs4,82,056).

The Committee opined thatthe theatres well equippedwith latest facilities and tech-nology will not boost the num-ber of theatre goers but willfurther help to generate morerevenue to the State in theform of entertainment tax. Theconditions of theatres shouldalso be improved becausetoday Goa is on the interna-tional map after becoming apermanent venue for IFFI, saysthe Ad hoc Committee.

Even with govt subsidy, conditionof some cinema theatres patheticPanel recommends monitoring of funds

Mauvin on HCN

As the Deputy Speaker and Cor-talim MLA Mauvin Godinho cel-ebrates his 51st birthday onAugust 2, watch him discuss hiscareer in politics and his devel-opment plans for his con-stituency only on HCN onMonday August 2 at 11 am fol-lowed by a repeat telecast on thesame day at 5.30 pm and 9 pm.

Mauvin turns51 today

PANJIM (HND): Deputy Speakercum chairperson of SGPDA, Mau-vin Godinho is celebrating his51st birthday today. Godinho willbe available from 9 am at his of-fice at Upasnagar, Zuarinagar.Chief Minister Digambar Kamatwill be laying foundation stoneof 2nd phase of Cortalim MarketComplex, Panchayat Ghar at Chi-calim and Sancoale panchayat.

HERALD REPORTER

MARGAO AUG 1

The Navelim gram sabha on Sun-day opposed the widening ofthe NH-17 and resolved that theCentral government shouldbuild the 6/4 lane highway di-rectly from Maharashtra to Kar-nataka by bypassing Goa.

Gram Sabha members saidthat Goa is a tiny State with landadmeasuring 3702 square kilo-meters and already has high den-sity of existing roads, addingthat the proposed highwaywould only bring disaster to Goaas the State does not requireunnecessary traffic from NorthIndia heading to Karnataka, Ker-ala.

Members said the proposedhighway will not benefit fromit and eventually destroy its en-vironment. Konkan Railway car-ries goods, loaded trucks andpassengers from North to Southand much of the business is car-ried out and major load of trans-portation is taken care of ,informed social activist, SidharthKarapurkar.

He pointed out that trafficload in Goa is mostly betweenMapusa and Margao whichneeds to be looked into. Astudy shows that after ThivimIndustrial Estate in the northand Navelim in south the trafficis low and hence does not re-quire broadening of 45 mts. In-stead, a 5-meter road should besufficient. Whereas Mapusa toMargao needs a broader roadand the existing land for 30 mtswhich is already acquired bygovernment can be utilised forbroadening and even 6-lane canbe fitted in 30 mts. Hence, newacquisition should be stopped,he added.

Karapurkar further said the

road passes through eco sensi-tive area of River Sal and thewetlands attached to it whichwill be destroyed once the roadis constructed.

Other issues discussed weregarbage and its handling. Aftermuch discussions, it was de-cided to look out for a plot forgarbage disposal, but pendingthe final solution, members de-cided that wet garbage shouldbe composted at home.

In this respect, the gramsabha decided that all buildingsshould be instructed to disposeoff wet garbage by composting,adding that Panchayat shouldcollect the plastic waste.

A proposal was received toacquire land for broadening ofroad in front of Navelim churchwhich was rejected outright.

Sarpanch Paul Pereira saidthat the gram sabha has re-solved to issue notices to land-lords keeping tenants to set upcomposting pits in their prop-erty, adding that the Panchayatwould impose fines if the failto do so.

Navelim gram sabha opposesNH-17 widening

Gram Sabha memberssaid that Goa is a tinyState with land admeasur-ing 3702 square kilome-ters and already has highdensity of existing roads,adding that the proposedhighway would only bringdisaster to Goa.

HERALD REPORTER

MARGAO, AUG 1

The mortal remains of freedomfighter Dr Eclito DSouza werelaid to rest at Assolna on Sun-day.

Fr Savio who preached thehomily said that Dr Eclito eventhough was old with a frail healthwas an alert and active personwho managed his things well.He said that Dr Eclito had a veryeventful and purposeful life evenin the twilight of his life.

Many of his friends and ad-mirers attend his last rites. Dur-ing the eulogy, Adv GilmanFernandes said that Dr Eclitowas a nationalist and a patriotwho even inspired others toplunge into Goas liberationstruggle.

While praying his tributes,Prof Subash Velingkar said D-Souza was one of the brave and

Dr Eclito laid to restpatriotic son of AVC (Assolna,Velim, Cuncolim) who wantedto maintain Hindu-Christianunity in its true sense and strivedhard to set history right.

Velingkar said that Goa shouldbe proud of producing such apatriotic son who not onlyworked in Goa but in East Africanot only for Goas liberation butalso for liberation of Tanzania,Uganda and Kenya. Dr Eclitohad entrusted me the task tomake history of one of the great-est Goan, Dr Francisco LuisGomes. While I would fulfill thistask, the time has come to makeGoa know about Dr DSouza, aselfless nationalist, who brushedshoulders with top nationalleaders and foreign diplomatspushing Goas case for free-dom., Velingkar added.

Levinson martins also spoke.Among those who attendedwere freedom fighter UrselinoAlmeida, Lambert Mascarenhas,Assis Correia, Member of LawCommission, Adv CleofatoCoutinho Almedia and manyfriends, relatives and admirersof Dr Eclito.

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HERALD CORRESPONDENT

QUEPEM, AUG 1

A group of residents have sub-mitted a memorandum toQuepem Deputy Collector op-posing land acquisition for theproposed four-lane road fromTilamol to Curchorem andfrom Curchorem to SanguemCourt.

It may be recalled that onJune 22, the gov-ernment issued anotification forwidening of Til-a m o l - S a n g u e mroad and since then people areopposing the road widening byconducting corner meetingsand filing objections.

On Friday morning, about200 affected villagers of Til-amol, Cacora, Curchorem, Ban-sai, Cacumordi and othervillagers gathered at the officeof Deputy Collector, here, andsubmitted a memorandum tothe deputy collector demand-ing withdrawal of the notifica-tion for land acquisition.

Before proposing to makethe Tilamol-Sanguem Courtroad a four lane, the PWD didnot conduct a traffic survey.The existing road, which has

the capacity of 150 vehicles perhours, is sufficient for another15 years, as the present trafficflow on the road is just 30-50vehicles per hour, stated thevillagers in the memorandum.

Under the garb of publiccause, the government is plan-ning to widen the road for thebenefit of the mining industryby spending Rs 500 crore of

public fund, whichis illegal and un-just, claimed thevillagers.

Curchorem isthe fifth most populated coun-cil of the State with a popula-tion of 30,000. Kakoda HealthCentre and other two majorhospitals are right on the road.Besides, 12 schools with 6,000secondary and 3,000 primarystudents commute on theroad, added the memoran-dum.

No where in the world isdirty cargo like iron ore hauledthrough the heart of such atown, not even in Bihar andJharkhand states, stated thememorandum.

Due to acquisition, immenselosses will be caused tohouses, shops, compounds,

trees, Crosses, Tulsi-Vrindavansand parking spaces.

Agricultural lands being ac-quired are tenanted and underCommand Area DevelopmentAuthority, such land cannot beacquired. Mining transport isalready affecting public health,sanitation, agriculture and hor-ticulture. Widening the road tomake way for four lane will ag-gravate the problems, addedthe villagers.

Since Xeldem Panchayatand Curchorem-Cacora Munic-

ipal Council disapproved thewidening project, the adminis-trative approval for the roadwidening is illegal in view of73rd and 74th amendment tothe constitution, states thememorandum.

As the last date for filing ob-jection ends on August 6, theaffected villagers sought exten-sion of time by another 15 daysto file objections.

Deputy Collector AgneloFernandes assured the villagersto look into matter.

Quepem locals oppose land acquisition, submit memo to deputy Collector

PROPOSEDFOUR-LANE

Villagers likely to be affected by road widening submits memorandumto Quepem Deputy Collector. Photo by John Fernandes

HERALD CORRESPONDENT

PORVORIM, AUG 1

Dr Vinay Prabhudessai hasstated that the concept of GuruShishya Parampara in IndianCulture has always been an im-portant aspect of education orlearning.

He was speaking at the func-tion organized by Rose GardenPrimary School, Porvorim, tocelebrate Guru Pournima.

The Gurus duty was notonly to teach the students aspecific subject, but also to de-velop the overall personality ofthe student. The Guru tried todevelop the students charac-ter, versatility, confidence,strength and overall vision oflife, said Dr Prabhudessai.

The ideal Guru was sup-posed to be the best friend ofthe student. He was supposedto be a friend, philosopher andguide, added Dr Prabhudessai.

Dr Prabhudessai further saidclassical music sooths theminds of the individuals. Theparents should try to encour-age their children to learn clas-sical music from good Gurussuch as Pandit Vasantrao Kad-nekar, Dinker Panshiker andSudhaker Karandiker, he said.

To acquire proficiency inclassical music, years of hardwork is required. Since classi-

cal music is a performing art,regular Riyaz and Sadhna is amust to gain mastery overones voice, said Dr Prab-hudessai.

Gurudas Redkar said parentsshould not discourage theirchildren if they desire to learnand make career in classicalmusic or classical dances.

There is also enough scopein classical music and dances.There are no restrictions withregard to caste or religion tolearn classical music or classi-cal dances, said Redkar.

In his welcome speech, RoseGarden Primary High School

Principal S G Chodankar said ithas proved scientifically thatthe plants also grow with themusic. Hence parents shouldencourage their children tolearn music along with theirregular studies.

Chief guest Dr Prabhudesaithough is a doctor by profes-sion, he has acquired profi-ciency in classical music too,said Chodankar.

Earlier, the students of musicand dance performed poojas oftheir gurus and later per-formed the cultural pro-gramme. Mahadev Parabcompered the function.

Guru Shishya Parampara is important aspect of education

The students along with their gurus. Photo by Anil Shankhwalker

PWD minister assures to repair

Ribandar roadHERALD CORRESPONDENT

OLD GOA, AUG 1

PWD Minister Churchill Alemaoon Tuesday evening inspectedthe Old Goa-Ribandar road,which is in a dilapidated condi-tion.

Alemao was accompanied bySt Cruz MLA Victoria Fernandesand social activist Aires Ro-drigues, CCP Corporator Ru-pesh Halarnkar, PWD PrincipalChief Engineer J J S Rego andother PWD staff and localsfrom Ribandar.

Rodrigues informed the dig-nitaries how the dangerous OldGoa-Ribandar road has beenposing problem to pedestriansand motorists as big potholeshave developed all over theroad from Goa Institute of Man-agement till Ribandar Church.

After giving a patient hear-ing to the grievances of the lo-cals, Alemao assured to get theroad completed once the rainsare over. He also informed thelocals that tender works of theroad are already passed, butwere stopped due to rains.

Rego said: We will estimatewhat is the quantum that hasto be removed and after thatwe will estimate the works ofthe road and get it sanctionedand then only we will be ableto decide how long it will taketo complete the road.

Raia resident held for

dumping wasteHERALD CORRESPONDENT

MARCEL, AUG 1

Ponda Police on Friday arresteda resident of Raia on charges ofdumping pharmaceutical wastealong the NH4 at Mardol by-pass in Veling-Priol.

After being alerted by locals,Ponda Police nabbed one Mo-hamad Hussain for dumpingwaste and is also on the lookout of the vehicle used in theoffence.

It may be recalled that thearea was also used by somemiscreants to dump garbage,as heaps of garbage waste wasseen along the route.

Incidentally, after Herald hadreported of the nuisance, theactivity had stopped, but mis-creants soon continued the ac-tivity. The panchayat had alsofiled a police complaint in thisregard.

HERALD CORRESPONDENT

CANACONA, AUG 1

Humans may not be the onlyones attracted to the Statesfamed coastline, as a largenumber of bats have beenfound on a few large trees atAgonda beach for the last sev-eral years.

Residents find the largepresence of fruit bats a nui-sance in their locality, as thebats emit unusual sounds,sometimes continuously forseveral hours during the dayand night.

Few years ago, presence ofbats was minimal, may be in afew dozens, but presently in-stead of originally occupiedone tree, bats in hundreds ifnot thousands, continuouslyemitting unusual sounds, haveoccupied at least three largetrees, informed a resident.

Another source told Herald:Sometimes, shooters from dif-ferent places find their largepresence as an easy prey andtake them home as a delicacyto cherish.

A big fruit bat can produceabout 1 kg of meat, whencleaned, consumed by manypeople as a delicacy, informeda source.

Forest sources informed thatthe smallest species is just sixcms (2.4 inches) long, while thelargest is weighed over one kg,has an length of 16 inches (40cms) with its wingspan attainingbreadth of over 5 feet (150 cms).

Most fruit bats have largeeyes, which allows them to ori-ent visually in the twilight ofdusk and caves and thick/darkforests, the source added.

According to forest sources,usually four types of bats arefound in Goa, fruit bats, dorm-ers bat, Rufous horse shoe batand malay fox vampire, whileflying foxes are present in largenumbers, especially in rural in-terior areas of the State.

Fruit bats mostly survives onfruits and its nectar, whichearned them the tag of frugiv-orous and nectarivorousspecies. Fruit bats teeth areadaptive to bite through hardfruit skins and often crush thefruits and consume only juices.

In scientific language, thebats family Pteropodidae is di-vided into two sub-familieswith 188 species, representedby 43 genera.

The fruit bats which forsome years now have madeabout three high-rising trees atbeachside in Dhawalkhazanarea of Agonda coast, are oftentargeted by shooters and takenaway as delicacies.

If local sources are to be be-lieved, several outstationshooters often comes andwithin minute shoot, killing 8-10 bats. After the shootingspree, the remaining disturbedbats flies off from the area, butreturns back on the same treeafter a few minutes.

Sources also informed thatfruit bats are delicacies notonly for some Goans, but con-sidered as a favourite delicacyby people residing in the SouthPacific Islands.

However, if still moresources are to be believed,consumption of bats meat is atall not safe for humans, as is

widely known.According to a website, dif-

ferent studies taken in the pastrevealed that bats are normallyreservoirs of different viruses,which causes number of dis-eases which are fatal for hu-mans.

The website states that thebats themselves sometimesshow no sign of infection,while researchers tested fruitbats for the presence of Ebolavirus (tests conducted between2001 and 2003 - three speciesof bats tested positive forEbola, but themselves had nosymptoms of the virus).

Another virus epidemicalMarburg was reportedly foundin 2007 in specimens of theEgyptian fruit bat, confirmingthe suspicion that this speciesmay be reservoir for this dan-gerous virus, while other dis-eases that can be carried byfruit bats are notably Hendravirus and Nipah virus, both ofwhich are fatal to humans.

Bat meat consumption isalso reportedly linked to somediseases (Lytico-Bodig), as es-pecially fruit bats are found toact as reservoirs for a numberof diseases, which can provefatal to humans and domesticanimals such as horses, revealsthe website.

Bats take liking to Agonda beach

Presence of fruit bats, also called flying foxes, in large numbers ontrees at Dhawalkhazan-Agonda shore. Photo by Kathy Pereira

Cleanliness driveundertaken

CALANGUTE (HC): TheCalangute Front for Responsi-ble Tourism in collaborationwith Primary Health CentreCandolim and Calangute Pan-chayat recently undertook acleanliness drive in Calangute.

As part of the drive, plasticsand other wastes were col-lected and later disposed at thegarbage dumping site.

The cleanliness drive wascarried out with the help of atractor in the presence of Can-dolim Primary Health CentreHealth Officer Dr Sachin Gov-ekar, Acting Sarpanch ofCalangute Sneha Salgaonkar,Calangute Front for Responsi-ble Tourism Convenor AnthonyDSouza, Co-ordinator DonaFernandes, ex-panchas ofCalangute and villagers ofCalangute.

MAUVIN GODINHORedefining Development

odayT

Mauvin

as Mauvin Godinho, the Hon'ble Deputy Speaker of Goa Legislative Assembly and MLA representing Cortalim constituency

celebrates his birthday, there is a jump of joy in the hearts of not only his family and friends or his constituents, but all the people of Goa and the youth in particular. Youth today are confident of their bright future in Mauvin Godinho. Reason his public life has been a saga of promises kept and dreams realized.

Godinho can truly be called a planner with a vision and a statesman with a mission if one visualizes the manner in which he has nurtured the Cortalim Constituency not only when he was their MLA but even when he was not in power. Cortalim then, was adjudged the model constituency in India which in between lost its vigour, but today, is back on its way to retain its coveted place with him being back in the saddle. Not sitting on the Laurels but marching forward with a vision has been his forte.'

Poor and the Downtrodden.a Minister holding various

portfolios he has always ensured that he puts his best foot forward. The planning he had done than, in various departments have till today been talked about for he had the foresight of future planning expansions to have the infrastructure in place much ahead of time. Definitely, if he was included in the present Ministry, Goa would have seen better and foresighted planned infrastructural development as most of the bureaucrat's feels and public in general node in an affirmative. Planning needs foresight.

the needs of his constituents has always been a priority. Providing service to the people at their doorsteps has been his vision and to complete it in this five year term has been mission. Cortalim Constituency can today boast of many things that are their pride but envy of the others. He earlier ensured every v i l lage of h is constituency had its own Panchayat ghar and today we have him working on upgrading them in having a market complex, Offices and Multipurpose hall. Providing service at the door step.

the fact that Mauvin began his public life as a youngster, heading organizations like All Goa Students Union and Goa Pradesh Youth Congress, the youth are always at the centre of his plans, that is the reason why now he has taken on the task of ensuring that every village in his constituency has a proper playground. He has marched forward in ensuring that Village level Clubs in Cansaulim Arossim Cultural and Social Sports Club and Chicalim Youth Club are being given annual sponsorship. Dabolim Youth Sports Club and Cortalim Gymkhana have also been provided assistance. This proves his endeavour that the youngsters can use their energy in a constructive manner rather than wasting it. Today's youth are the pillars of tomorrow.

has left a rich legacy of infrastructure in his Cortal im Constituency. If St. Jacinto Bridge is an environmental Pearl than Kala Bhavan that is coming up within the jurisdiction of Sancoale Village

As

Meeting

Given

Mauvin

Today

Mauvin

Time

Basic

as Mauvin Godinho, the Hon'ble Deputy Speaker of Goa Legislative Assembly and MLA representing Cortalim constituency celebrates his birthday, there is a jump of joy in the hearts of not only his family and friends or his constituents, but all the people of Goa and the youth in particular. Youth today are confident of their bright future in Mauvin Godinho. Reason his public life has been a saga of promises kept and dreams realized.

Godinho can truly be called a planner with a vision and a statesman with a mission if one visualizes the manner in which he has nurtured the Cortalim Constituency not only when he was their MLA but even when he was not in power. Cortalim then, was adjudged the model constituency in India which in between lost its vigour, but today, is back on its way to retain its coveted place with him being back in the saddle. Not sitting on the Laurels but marching forward with a vision has been his forte.'

has never been a factor when it came to solve the problems or answer the requests of his constituents. Always welcoming his constituents with a broad smile he has ensured that the constituency smiles with him. Today one is proud of Cortalim Constituency for he has ensured that every ward in his constituency has a proper asphalted road that connects not only to the Taluka headquarters, Vasco-da-Gama, but also to the District Headquarters - Margao and through them to the State capital - Panaji. Service to the People is service to God.

needs of life are food, clothing and shelter. Ensuring better facilities in water, roads, electricity to every nook and corner of his constituency, he has marched far ahead to provide shelter to the poor and downtrodden. Meeting the needs of the poor by providing essential commodities like rice, clothing and such others has always been his priority. His ways of sharing happiness with his constituents s p e c i a l l y t h e p o o r a n d t h e downtrodden is by being one with them and that's why we see him giving whatever they want on his birthday day. Caring and Sharing with the

Panchayat is Cultural Hub. Bridge already completed and in operation the work of Kala Bhavan has commenced last year. This project is rapidly nearing completion and those passing by can get an idea of what magnificent structure it is going to be. This Kala Bhavan will go a long way in unearthing and nurturing the local hidden talent of not only the Village of Sancoale but other neighboring villages too. Unearthing the hidden talent has always been his priority.

of St. Jacinto Island which is a part of the ward of Chicalim Panchayat are today a very happy lot. Thanks to the bridge linking the island to the mainland. While earlier a causeway used to connect the island to the mainland, the same had proven to be a thorn. The locals who used to harvest nature's bounty in the form of the shell fish that was found in abundance around the island were facing hardships as the causeway had disturbed the natural flow of water and that had adversely affected the shell fish. With the completion of this bridge, today the residents of St. Jacinto and Dabolim are proud to have different types of fish that has been rejuvenated and has brought a smile on many faces including the environmentalists. I am proud to contribute my might for ecology.Mauvin has always been concerned about ecology and environment and proof of this lies in the fact that as Goa Pradesh Youth Congress President, he had launched tree plantation drives and cleanliness drives so that Goa would look clean and green. The passion for greenery continues and he is the first MLA to convert a number of open spaces in different villages of his constituency, into gardens and children's parks that are truly a pleasant sight to the eyes gone sore by seeing either concrete buildings or barren land. In Sancoale, Bogmalo and Chicalim plans are afoot to convert more open spaces into gardens and children parks which will always remain a breathing lung to those residing within its vicinity. Protect environment Save ecology.

Mauvin is a known performer and has excelled in whatever role he took upon himself or offered to him. His performance as a President of the Goa Pradesh Youth Congress held him and this organization on the high note in the mind set of the people of Goa even much ahead of the frontal organization in the Congress Committee. He was one of the easily identified face of the Congress leadership. In fact, so successful was he that for the first time in the history of Goa, four Youth Congress members were nominated to contest the Assembly elections on the Congress ticket and three of them emerged victorious.As a minister, his exemplary record is quite well known to the people of Goa. In fact if Verna Industrial Estate has today emerged as the pride of Goa, the credit should go to Mauvin Godinho. The youngest amoung the than Council of Minister he held the Industries Portfolio and it was here that he proved his capabilities. He changed the then Verna Electronic City to Verna Industrial Estate from what was heading to be yet another white elephant. With him being at the helm of affairs as Minister of Industries the Verna Industrial Estate took off with leading industries not only from India but even international, making a bee line to set up their units there.Taking over Power Ministry he changed the entire power scenario in Goa. Because of his foresight Goa earned the distinction of being the first State in the country to have its own power generating plant that today provides 40 megawatts of power to the S t a t e t h e r e b y r e d u c i n g t h e dependence on the erratic power provided by the National Grid. He did not rest on his laurels here but set about replacing the aged power conductors all over State of Goa. Onecan never forget the most significant achievement during his tenure as Minister for Power. He set in place the infrastructure required to enable Goa to draw the power allotted to it by the National Grid by prevailing upon his

Residents

Glorious Record:

Best wishes from A Well Wisher A Well Wisher

decided to tackle the large volumes of plastic that is not only making Goa look ugly but is also literally choking it. Imagine if you get chocked and cannot breath. Taking a leaf from his Youth Congress days, his drive at Baina Beach, Mauvin has launched a plastic collection drive and what is truly amazing is that besides getting the local s e l f g o v e r n m e n t b o d i e s a n d government agencies on board, he has convinced private companies to join him in this effort. The mantra of public-private participation has been very ingeniously used by him for a basic requirement like cleanliness. He convinced these private agencies to construct Sulabhs for the Zuarinagar Slums so as to avoid the nuisance caused on the National Highway. Very soon 5 sulabhs will see the light of the day cause he has a concern for ecologyand environment and moreover the hygienic conditions of the people who live in there.

Mauvin always has a foresight. He had than demanded a Flyover at Dabolim Airport. When out of power the flyover proposed by him was omitted. Today we see the traffic menace at the Dabolim Airport. The fact that Goa is going to celebrate the Golden Jubilee of joining the Indian nation and since the Centre has allotted special fund for the State towards this end, Mauvin has not only demanded, but also got sanctioned a flyover at the Dabolim Airport junction. Indeed the flyover is the need of the hour given the fact that Dabolim Airport is undergoing expansion and up-gradation which would not only result in increased traffic but would further worsen the road traffic situation at the Dabolim junction.Every time when an aircraft lands at Dabolim airport, there are serpentine queues witnessed at this junction due to the congestion in traffic. Once the flyover is commissioned, it will be a smooth sailing for everybody as those going or coming from the airport will be able to do so with ease even as others travelling to the Port town or from it will be able to continue with the journey without any hindrance.

Today one can see people becoming more and more health conscious. Yes today we see people going for walk by the road side to keep themselves healthy. This is very

Flyover:

Joggers Park:

friend the late Kumarmangalam to give Goa not only a dedicated 400 KVA line but also a 400 KVA substation to download this load for further distribution in the State. It is noteworthy to remember that is was his foresight that saved the State of Goa from the plight people of Goa would have been in. Even non-descript departments like the Rural Development Agency which no Minister wanted because it did not have any populist schemes to offer, he made this department very sensitive to the needs of the rural population and empowered them in order to cut migration of the rural populace to the cities.

Not one to relax on his laurels and always on the lookout for new challenges, Mauvin has come up with some truly marvelous proposals that wil l benefit not only his constituency and its residents, but the entire State of Goa for sure.

While his constituency is a major gateway to the paradise on earth called Goa thanks to the International Airport, it is the cause of some major problems for the Village Panchayats of Chicalim, Bogmalo, Velsao, Sancoale, Cortalim and Cansaulim and moreover to the people residing there. With all the villages from Cortalim Constituency coming within the flying zone of the airport, none of t h e m c a n h a v e a g a r b a g e management plant as it would increase the risk of bird hits to the aircrafts thereby endangering the lives of the passengers and the people staying in the vicinity.Cortalim Constituency here faced a huge problem of ensuring the safety of these passengers due to the aircrafts that frequent Goa and simultaneously providing hygienic conditions to the villagers. Mauvin held his head high and came up with the perfect via media. He has not only suggested but even identified a site at the Verna Industrial Estate where all the Panchayats from his constituency will manage the garbage without causing or posing any threat to the aircrafts visiting Dabolim International Airport and ensuring that hygiene is maintained. This path breaking project of his could well serve as a model to the various villages in the State that are struggling to deal with the garbage generated in their jurisdiction.

Besides taking concrete steps to deal with the increasing garbage, Mauvin has also

Future Plans:

Garbage Management:

Tackling Plastic Menace

dangerous because a number of senior citizens have lost their live while on a morning or evening walk. Therefore close in the vicinity of the Dabolim Airport, Mauvin has now proposed to set up a Joggers park. This park along with the open spaces converted into parks will not only give the area a beautiful look but will also help the local residents not only to exercise and keep fit but also be able to breathe cleaner air.Besides, in collaboration with the Airports Authority of India and Central Industrial Security Force, both Central agencies houses in the Port Town, Mauvin is planning to set up a specialized hospital that would cater to the personnel of these two agencies, besides providing the same facilities to the local people.

Mauvin Godinho has not restricted himself to merely nursing his constituency or making the department allotted to him to work earnestly. He has been at the forefront with regards to issues disturbing and agitating the people of Goa. He was the first Congress leader to oppose the Special Economic Zone at the party forum as he was not an MLA when this policy was formulated. Besides, he was also amongst the first to caution the party leadership of the perils of the Coastal Regulation Zone regime and took the initiative to raise these twin issues even in the Legislative Assembly where he spoke vociferously in favour of the people and against the establishment even though he was the Deputy Speaker of the House.It is indeed a crying shame that a person like him with his record of achievements, is left in doldrums. In fact, when today most people are grumbling that nothing tangible is happening, a person like Mauvin could make a big difference to show that the government is functioning. However, in an era where mediocrity is the norm and excellence is an aberration, probably Mauvin is paying the price for his capabilities thanks to the crab mentality that has time and again proven to be Goa's doom. But for how long, is the question his constituents and well wishers are today asking and "patience" is the only answer that Mauvin gives them.

True Legislator:

Many many happy returns of the day !

GOA, MONDAY, 2 AUGUST, 2010

Pg7OHERALD

O

PTI

NEW DELHI, AUG 1

As Sonia Gandhi is set to get re-elected as Congress Presidentthis month, a senior leader hasadvocated the need for the partyto abandon the UPA experimentin the next Lok Sabha polls.

Former Union Minister VasantSathe also pitched for the partyemulating Indira Gandhi bygoing in for a massive pro-poorscheme like a new 20-point pro-gramme that could help theparty win the 2014 Lok Sabhapolls on its own.

"There should be no repeatof UPA experiment in next polls.We should not depend uponcoalition politics for long. Par-liamentary democracy is basi-cally two-party system.

Coalition concept is alien toParliamentary system," the oc-togenarian leader, who hadclosely worked with IndiraGandhi, told PTI.

He said that in a coalition,the ruling party has to dependupon too many groups and par-ties and therefore "you cannotcarry out your policies and pro-grammes".

This is for the first time a sen-ior leader has spoken publiclyin favour of the party going italone. In private, several leadersadmit that coalition is necessar-ily a compulsion.

The party has been singingthe mantra of 'going it alone' inthe Lok Sabha polls in Uttar

Pradesh and now the comingA s s e m b l y e l e c t i o n s i nBihar.

Sonia Gandhi led the Con-gress to the coalition route in2004, with UPA-I being the firstexperiment of the 125-year oldparty to share power at the Cen-tre. Gandhi's call for unity ofsecular forces in 2003 saw theouster of the BJP-led NDA frompower.

Sathe's refrain was that Soniashould emulate Indira to bringthe party to power on its ownin the next LS polls.

His contention was that thepath of Indira would take theCongress to power on its owngiven the fact that the opposi-tion was facing a crisis with theBJP failing to get its act togetherand the Left getting increasinglymarginalised.

"In the 2014 polls, Congressshould go on its own and forthat Gandhi should start prepar-ing right now. A new 20-pointprogramme for the poor like theone launched by Indiraji willhelp Congress win on its own,"he said.

Sathe said that since Sonia"for all practical purposes" hasbeen the leader of the party andthe government, she shouldlook for ameliorating the lot ofthe poor, facing hardships dueto price rise and joblessness.

Sathe had sometime back re-minded Sonia that people ralliedround Indira in the 1980 polls

after she rebuilt the party fol-lowing the split, shunned al-liances and brought up severalyoung leader s a t a t i m ew h e n t h e s t a l w a r t s t a r -geted her.

Sathe said that in the yearsto come, the top priority of theCongress should be focusing onpeople living below poverty lineand Sonia should take a leaf outof Indira Gandhi's "garibi hatao'(remove poverty) plank.

He hailed the supportive rolebeing played by Rahul Gandhifor Congress in reaching out tothe poor.

This, he said, was necessaryas the country has taken to thepath of the open market econ-omy under the guidance ofPrime Minister ManmohanSingh, whose Finance Minister-ship in the early nineties sawIndia giving up the path of so-cialistic pattern of society.

The market economy hasturned 20 to 30 per cent of thepeople of the country affluenthe said adding that the vast re-maining population has re-mained poor.

"Despite being a democracy,unless you take steps like thosetaken by China, the poor cannotget a fair deal," he said under-lining the need for a combina-tion of government interferencefor the welfare of the commonman and making the affluentclass to contribute for thepoor.

Cong should abandon UPA experiment in next LS polls PTIHYDERABAD, AUG 1

Slamming the Congress-led UPAgovernment for allegedly usingCB I to t a rge t B JP i n theSohrabuddin case, senior partyleader M Venkaiah Naidu todaysaid any move to question Gu-jarat Chief Minister NarendraModi in the case would prove"suicidal" for Congress.

"We learnt that CBI is goingto question Gujarat Chief Min-ister Narendera Modi in connec-tion with Sohrabuddin case,which would prove suicidal forthe Congress party," he told re-porters here.

"Congress would be doomedif it goes to the extent of ques-tioning Modi," Naidu warned.

Congress intends to do a "po-litical encounter" of the BJP byusing Sohrabuddin fake en-counter case to appease a par-t icu lar community in thecountry, he alleged.

"We also learnt that CBI isplanning to frame Modi in thecase and any move will ulti-mately prove a suicide for Con-gress party," the senior BJPleader said.

Any attempt by Centre or CBIto malign the image of Gujarat,the best performing state gov-ernment in the country, and itsChief Minister would be op-posed tooth and nail, Naidu said.

"Do not play with fire as Modiis the best Chief Minister and anational leader who led Gujaraton the developmental path," hesaid.

Questioning Modi will prove suicidal for Cong

Congress i s p ro jec t ingSohrabuddin as a national hero,who was a notorious criminal,arms smuggler and had asso-ciation with the underworldand other criminals, Naidualleged.

The arrest of 15 police officersand Gujarat Home Minister AmitShah for the sake of a smugglerhas demoralized Gujarat policeforce, Naidu said.

He questioned as to why CBI,which took over the investiga-tion of Sohrabuddin case, tar-geting Gujarat state alonewhere two other states -A n d h r a P r a d e s h a n d Ra -jasthan - were also involvedin the case.

PTI

NEW DELHI, AUG 1

The Delhi High Court hasawarded a compensation of Rs40,000 to a man who was off-loaded by immigration author-ities from an aircraft here onthe basis of a look-out circularissued by the NCW, say ingstatutory bodies are not em-powered to initiate criminalproceedings.

The High Court said that thecompensation award has to beequally shared by the NationalCommission for Women (NCW)and Foreigners Regional Regis-tration Office (FRRO) for de-boarding V ikram Sharma,against whom no FIR was lodgedin connection with a matrimo-nial dispute.

Sharma had approached thecourt alleging that the FRROhad acted illegally in off-loadingand detaining him here in April2008 at the instance of NCWwhere his wife had filed a com-plaint.

"This court is of the view thatthe action of NCW in writing tothe DCP, FRRO for the issuanceof LOC (look-out circular) againstSharma was without the author-ity of law. The consequent actionof FRRO (which) resulted in thepetitioner (Sharma) being de-tained at IGI airport on April 8,2008 was also illegal," Justice SMuralidhar said.

The court asked the Ministryof Home Affairs (MHA) to issueclarification orders within threemonths stating that a requestfor issuance of LOC cannot em-anate from statutory bodies likeNCW, NHRC as well as Nationaland State Commission for Pro-tection of Child Rights which

NCW not empowered to initiate criminal proceedings, says HC

are vested with the powers of acivil court.

"The NHRC, the NCW, theNCPCR (National Commissionfor Protection of Child Rights)have not been vested with thepowers of a criminal court anddo not have powers to enforcecriminal law," Justice S Murlidharsaid.

"They should bring the nec-essary facts to the notice of lawenforcement agencies like thepolice, which will then make arequest for issuance of LOCupon an assessment of the sit-uation and strictly in terms ofthe procedure outlined for thepurpose," he said.

Sharma had alleged thathe was "made to stand in

solitary confinement in a toi-let" and his passport wasstamped with the remarks"Off loaded-deported due tocriminal complaint".

Govt sets up welfare fund for diaspora

PTI

NEW DELHI, AUG 1

In a novel initiative, the govern-ment has set up a communitywelfare fund in 42 Indian mis-sions abroad to facilitate ex-tending help to d iasporacommunity in times of difficulty.

The Indian Community Wel-fare Fund has been set up tooffer various assistance, includ-ing legal and financial help todistressed Indians, a top officialof the Overseas Indian AffairsMinistry said.

The fund has been made avail-able in all the Gulf countrieswhere a substantial number ofIndians are living. An estimatedfive million workers are currentlystaying in the Gulf region.

"So far the fund has been setup in 42 countries. It has alsobeen made available in severalEuropean countries where In-dian population is of significantnumber," the official said.

The fund will particularly be usedto help women migrants who be-come victims of unscrupulous in-termediaries in foreign soil. Theofficial said the fund will equip themissions better in ensuring protec-tion and welfare of overseas Indianworkers.

Asked about financial alloca-tion made available to each ofthe embassies under the fund,the official refused to give de-tails saying it varies from missionto mission.

He said, in case of emergen-cies, the Ministry coordinateswith the Indian Missions, thestate Governments and Ministryof Civil Aviation for making nec-essary arrangements for trans-portation of Indians who are indistress.

PTI

NEW DELHI, AUG 1

Only about half the populationin worst Maoist-hit areas haveenrolled their names and gavepersonal information in the justconcluded census operations,forcing government to think oflaunching a special drive in suchregions.

In many Naxal-affected areas,the enumerators could not visitthe households due to fear ofthe extremists while in somecases people did not cooperatefollowing Maoist diktat.

"It is just around 50 per centpeople who took part in thecensus. We understand the dif-ficulties faced by people inMaoist areas. Since enrollingpeople in the census operationis beneficial to them only, weare considering to launch a spe-cial drive in such areas," a HomeMinistry official said.

Apart from Naxal threat, therehave been misconceived appre-hensions in the minds of somehabitants in such areas whichprevented them from activelytaking part in the exercise, hesaid.

"In some cases, enumeratorsare even not permitted to enterthe houses on some pretext or

the other," the official said,adding the special drive willcover such areas too.

After the house listing andhousing census along with col-lection of data on National Pop-ulation Register (NPR), uniqueID numbers will be providedfor each citizen in the coun-try.

The NPR will be a compre-hensive identity database thatwould help in better targetingof benefits and services underthe government programmes,improve planning and helpstrengthen security of the coun-try.

"The ID number will help peo-ple get ration under PDS, variousdevelopment schemes, openbank accounts and in other day-to-day uses," the official said.

The three month-long Census2011 in 29 States and Union Ter-ritories covering country's 1.2billion people was completedon June 30.

According to an estimate,about 40,000 sq km area inNaxal-affected states are underthe control of Maoists. Alto-gether 35 districts in sevenstates are considered to beworst affected by the men-ace.

Census: Govt plans special drive in Naxal-hit areas

PG7:Layout 1 8/2/2010 1:02 AM Page 1

Church of JesusBernard Simoes, Dona Paula

The letter Catholics & Christianity by Gle-stone Fernandes (Herald, 27 July) is wrong.Even though Jesus never used the termRoman Catholic Church, in Matthew 16:18,He said: And I tell you, you are Peter, therock. And on this rock I will build myChurch

That Church is the Roman CatholicChurch, headed by the Pope, by virtue ofapostolic succession, that Jesus built on therock. Every other Church in existence is adeviation from the Church of Jesus. I wouldrequest the author to get a real Bible andread it carefully.

Work of the SpiritJeffrey John Pinto, Parra

The letter Constantines legacy by Paul Ro-dricks (Herald, 29 July) in response to IbonioDSouzas article A whole human being(Herald, 28 July) claims that Emperor Con-statines patronage made Christianity thestate religion and was the driving force be-hind the spread of Christianity. He furtherstates: it was never the teachings or actionsof Jesus Christ.

It was not the patronage of any Emperor,Monarch or Conqueror, but the teachingsof the Messiah through the working of theHoly Spirit that spread Christianity. Indiasfirst Christians were not those convertedby the Portuguese, British or other con-querors, but those who heard the Wordthrough St Thomas the apostle, 1,950 yearsago. when he first set foot in South India,where he was finally hacked to death bythose who refused to accept the Word of God. Infact, it is the blood of martyrs that will con-tinue to sow the seeds of Christianity.

A party for changeKaleem Rikarty, Davorlim

Politics has become a business for mostpoliticians. The likes of Lal Bahadur Shastri,Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, Sardar VallabhaiPatel and Dr B R Ambedkar are very hard tofind anymore. Just a few dedicated politi-cians like Defence Minister A K Antony andTripura Chief Minister Manik Sarkar remain.

A new political party the Social Demo-cratic Party of India (SDPI) is working tobring a positive change; to empower themore than 80 per cents of Indians who arepoor and downtrodden, and deprived ofbasic necessities and human rights.

Its policies are simple: selection of a peo-ples candidate, and campaigning for himwithout allowing him to spend a singlerupee from his pocket. If elected, he be-comes a peoples candidate, as he has notinvested any money for the election. SDPIhas already fielded such candidates, in Kar-nataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu, and somehave won.

In Goa too, we need such a party tochange the corrupt and fascist politics. Wemust welcome politicians like Dr HubertGomes, who can be one such candidate ofpositive change.

Outsiders allPraxy Fernandes, St Cruz

Hats off to Floriano Lobo (Talking to theHJS, Herald, 30 June) and Damodar Mauzo(Why not close Khajuraho? Herald, 31 June)for taking up cudgels on behalf of renownedSanskrit scholar Dr Jose Pereira, and askingthe Hindu JanJagriti Samiti and SanatanSanstha to desist from violence and threats.

These self-styled religious watchdogs areall non-Goans. Some of them are there evenin my religion. All such fundamentalist and

communal elements should be driven awayand banned from Goa, as they are just intenton fomenting trouble in Goa.

Let them play their mischief in their ownstates. Why are they trying to drive a wedgebetween Goan Christians and Hindus? Noneof my Goenkar Hindu friends have takenoffence to the paintings of Dr Jose and DrSubodh.

Ignorant fanaticsAbhijeet Naik, Fatorda

I strongly second Floriano Lobos thoughts(Talking to the HJS, Herald, 30 July). HJSmembers are non-Goans. Their literature isall in Marathi. Those supporting Marathilike the Shiv Sena of Mapusa, the SanatanSanstha and the HJS should pack their bagsand leave for Maharashtra.

We Goans Hindus, Christians and Mus-lims have always lived in peace. We donot need any HJS or SS to teach us Hinduism.When the HJS representative herself admit-ted that she did not know the Hindu scrip-tures, how can she or her group interpretDr Jose Pereiras paintings? He has alsopainted Christian deities in a similar manner.

A real HinduKajal Chatterjee, Kolkata

Apropos the editorial Who is the realHindu?(Herald, 29 July), a true Hindu is onewho never hurts the sentiments of anothercommunity. Mahatma Gandhi, an ardent fol-lower of Lord Ram, never misused the nameof the epic hero to inflict pain and tensionamong the minorities.

A true Hindu is also one who protestsagainst torture or ethnic cleansing of thecommunity. (S)he should vehemently protestagainst discrimination towards KashmiriPandits in the Valley. (S)he should equallycondemn the Gujarat pogrom and the bar-baric demolition of the Babri Masjid anddesist from equating the Ayodhya movementwith cultural nationalism.

Catch smokersStuart Cabral, Nagoa

The heartless approach of todays smokersis annoying. Every passing day, I see smokerslighting up cigarettes and smoking fashion-ably near schools, colleges and public in-stitutions. This is a bad influence on youngstudents. We see notices being served onfilm stars, but what about common smokers?Should they go scot-free?

No Portuguese comebacksJoseph Pereira, Diwar

Mandrem MLA Laxmikant Parsekars remarkin the Legislative Assembly on 30 July thatthere are people still awaiting the arrivalof the Portuguese was in bad taste. It wasobjected to even by the Speaker. Our uniqueculture, architecture and even many wordsin Konkani and Marathi have evolved during450 years of Portuguese rule. Even now,Goans have the option of obtaining Por-tuguese nationality, settling down in EUcountries, and sending precious foreign ex-change to our little state.

We are all Goans first and then Indi-ans. We have our own precious identity.The Portuguese left 49 years ago, andthey are not coming back. Mr Parsekaris the BJPs Goa President. He shouldshow more dignity and avoid makingderogatory remarks that will make himunpopular with Goans.

A true friend Is

After the UPA government refused to rollback the increase in petroleum prices,much debate has taken place , with almost

all political parties participating in the recentBharat bandh organized to protest the pricehike and rising inflation.

The acrimonious debate is on, in the ongoingmonsoon session of the Parliament over pricehike. Based on the recommendations of the em-powered group of ministers headed by FinanceMinister Pranab Mukherjee, the government raisedprices of petrol, diesel and kerosene by Rs. 3.50,Rs. 2 and Rs. 3 a litre, respectively and increasedthe rate of cooking gas by Rs. 35 a cylinder.

The government has also decided to give free-dom to the oil marketing companies to fix pricesof petrol. The diesel prices could also be freed indue course. The hike in prices of petroleumgoods is already having a cascading effect on in-flation with wholesale prices-based inflation,reaching 11 per cent and the hike in food pricesby about 17 per cent.

Although we are made to believe that the hikein petroleum prices is imperative, there areseveral factors which prove that the price hikecould be limited to a bare minimum, if manyother issues are tackled properly.

It is claimed that the Government has been in-curring losses in the oil sector. But the revenueearned by the Government in oil transactions, isnot taken into account. In fact, the revenueearned by the Government towards excise andcustoms duty on the oil import has been increasingconsistently. For example, the amount of customsand excise duty which was Rs. 15612 crore in1995-1996 rose to nearly Rs 70,557 crore in 2008-2009 and it is on the rise.

In addition to this , the Government on an av-erage earns Rs 60,000 crore through sales taxand royalty annually from different state governments,due to which the revenue goes up automatically.

The term under recovery is used by oil firmsto cushion the consumers from the price spikesin the international market for crude oil, wherewe import our gasoline and other fuel require-ments. By absorbing the initial price shocks ofcrude oil from the international market, the do-mestic oil firms chalk up under recoveries.

According to Petroleum Minister Murli Deorathe under recovery (subsidisation) for this year

is expected to be Rs 7,000 crore and that is thereason the Government incurs the loss. However, statisticspresent different picture. For example, in 2005-2006the Government earned a profit of Rs 20781 crore whichrose to Rs 27127 crore in 2008-2009.

For this, the cost of oil exploration also mustbe taken into account. In 1995-1996, the cost ofthe oil exploration was 2 to 3 dollars per barrel(159 litres) in Gulf countries when internationalcost of exploration was 17 to 18 dollars per barrel.After that the cost of exploration in Gulf did notrise, but the cost in the international market wentup. It was 50 $ per barrel in 2005 which rose to147 per barrel in 2008.

As against this, in 1995-1996 the cost of theoil exploration in Bombay High was 9.52 $ perbarrel. The cost included the exploration cost of4 $ per barrel plus 5.52 towards royalty and taxes.Incidentally the Bombay High is under the controlof ONGC. However, Reliance Industries Limited(RIL) has made its entry into oil exploration inCambay Basin, Ahmedabad, Gujarat and also incrude oil production in the Krishna Godavari basinin Andhra Pradesh under the New Explorationand Licensing Policy.

Indias share in international oil production is23 per cent. Earlier, the domestic cost of oil ex-ploration was less than that of international cost.

If India was to sell the oil in the internationalmarket during those days, it would have earnedmuch more revenue.

Crude prices have been steadily on the risesince the 9/11 attacks on World Trade Centre inNew York. But they were often cushioned by in-creased production and other measures. However,ever since the global crude crossed the $100-a-barrel mark, the situation has worsened, not justin India but across the developing and developedworld too. The impact on developing economieslike India, whose dependency on overseas oil hasbeen steadily increasing, is more severe. For this, the price mechanism has also to betaken into account. For years, the administrativeprice mechanism (APM) and Oil Pool Account(OPA) served as the two pillars of Indias oil tradingand domestic distribution. But they were disman-tled in a phased manner starting with the APMfor high-speed diesel (HSD) and aviation turbinefuel (ATF) from 1997, and for petrol by April 2002.Since then, Indian oil marketing companies aredistributing petroleum products in the domesticmarket at rates based on the international crudeprices, with the government reviewing prices ona timely basis. The Oil Pool Account (OPA) usedto serve as a buffer to control the supply and de-mand movements. When international crude

prices were low, the OPA had surplus funds inthe early 1980s and during the mid-1990s. If thegovernment had sustained that surplus, it wouldhave been sufficient to cover the deficits whenthe international prices went up, like the conditionnow exists. The idea of doing away with OPA wasseemingly a result of the sudden price fluctuationscreated by volatilities in West Asia, starting withthe Gulf War in 1991. However, the questionwhether the dismantling of the oil pool accounthas benefited either the Indian customer or theoil marketing companies, remains unanswered.

Now the Kirit Parikh Committee set up by theGovernment to determine the oil prices has sug-gested market determined pricing for petrol anddiesel. It has also linked the cooking gas, LPGand kerosene distributed through the public dis-tribution system with the increase in per capitaGDP of urban and rural population.

The committee has also rejected a formulasuggested by the ONGC to charge a windfall taxon the oil companies if the price of crude in theinternational market goes up and has suggested thatthe upstream oil companies share more of their revenuesfrom the blocks nominated under the NELP.

The committees recommendations are aimedat benefiting private players giving them full free-dom to decide prices of petroleum products andcompete with others in the market. Besides,under New Exploration and Licensing Policy theprivate players have already entered the nationalproperty like Godavari basin. They buy oil fromopen market at higher rates. Hence it is hard toexpect that they would reduce the oil prices.

Indias growing economy has created a newclass of high-income professionals and entrepre-neurs, who have kicked off an automotive boom,leading to a radical rise in demand for petroleumproducts. With this, the percentage of roadtransport has increased up to 63 per cent whichwas lingering around 11 per cent in the 1960s.Comparatively the domestic oil production hasnot gone up, and the oil import has increasedup to 80 per cent.

Under the circumstances, the only option is toincrease the domestic oil production. Also, itwould be judicious to revive an oil pool accountto fund future crude demands, and formally restorethe administrative price mechanism which wastheoretically in existence by other means.

OPINIONwww.oheraldo.in

Pg8Vol No CX No: 194

Goa, Monday 2 August, 2010

Letters to the EditorLetter of the Day

Raw deal for Labour!Orlando S A Da Silva, Carmona

Union Law Minister Veerappa Moilys statement that no judicial case should be pendingfor more than three years is welcome. But I hope his suggestion that Goa with a littleeffort can erase its list of 28,000 pending cases, is not a sugar-coated pill to be takenwith a pinch of Epsom Salt.

The central government should place this as a benchmark for the Digamber Kamatgovernment, to show its performance to the aam admi before the next election, anda condition for granting the state fresh central funds.

What about the 1,000 labour cases pending before the Industrial Tribunal? Afterthe suspension of Judge Anuja Prabhudessai, the adjudication of labour disputes hascome to a grinding halt. Prior to this, following the exit of the previous chairpersonMr Agni, it took the Kamat government nearly two years to give additional charge toMs Prabhudessai.

The labour class of this tiny state has throughout got a raw deal. Funds for judicialreforms should not be spent in constructing buildings for politicians to collect com-missions, but to make Goa the first state with an arrears-free Labour Tribunal.

The Goa government should also pass a legislation like the MRTU-PULP Act (for pre-vention of unfair labour practices) like in neighbouring Maharashtra, to enable labourdisputes to be heard by the High Court through writ.

Printed and published by Vinayak Pai Bir for and on behalf of Herald Publications Pvt Ltd. Printed at Herald Publications Pvt Ltd, Plot No: L-135, Phase II, Verna Industrial Estate, Verna, Salcete, Goa. Published at PO Box 160, Rua Sao Tome, Panjim, Goa - 403001. Editor-in-chief: Mr R F Fernandes. Editor: Ashwin Tombat(Responsible under PRB Act). Regd Office: St Tome Road, Panjim, Goa. Tel: 2224202, 2228083, Fax: 2222475 (all Editorial); 2230535, Fax: 2225622 (Advertising); Margao: 2737689. Mumbai Office: 16-A, Bell Building, 2nd Floor, 19 Sir PM Road, Fort, Mumbai - 400001 (Tel: 22840702/22844908). RNI No: 43667/83. HOW TO CONTACT US: mail@herald-goa.com For press notes, general queries. junioryouth@herald-goa.com Junior Herald & Careers. heraldmirror@herald-goa.com Sunday Mirror. reporters@herald-goa.com For Reporters. business@herald-goa.com For Business news. editor@herald-goa.com ForLetters to the Editor. sports@herald-goa.com For Sports news. advt@herald-goa.com For Advertisements. 2day@herald-goa.com For Herald 2day. tiatr@herald-goa.com For Tiatr Reviews and Reports. Disclaimer: Except for the editorial above, articles and letters in Herald represent the views of the concernedauthors, and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Herald editor, publisher, and/or owners.

revival of oPA can reduce petrol price burden, states rAJU VerneKAr

Reining In The Ever Rising Prices OHERALDO

InflAtIon Ire

If you dont have FRIENDS, you aint got nothing, goes an oldsaying. There comes a time, when we realize that our accom-plishments and unique journey through life, have been made

richer by the presence of those who have touched our mind and spirit. Friendship is a beautiful relationship which everyone wants to

enjoy. But friendship is not merely a relationship, it is rather, aunique blend of affection and trustworthiness. A relationship thatcares for us and helps us when we are in trouble and despair.

Friendship is the only relationship which is made by choice andnot by chance, and it has no boundaries to describe. With somany occasions and special days in our lives, the one that everyfriend loves to enjoy is the Friendship Day. In life we meet manypeople; some will be close to us while others, distant. Some areable to connect with us emotionally or share common interests.Basically, the people we meet are classified into different categories.Many people have the misconception that people hey meet areconsidered friends. The truth is far from it. When we just get toknow someone, they are acquaintances whom we will only greet orsmile at when we meet on the street. Do we really need friends, andwhy? We need friends because we want to share our inner most

thoughts, ideas, and our real emotions. We need friends, becausewe need somebody who will be there with us when we are downand out, since we hate loneliness, and family alone cannot bewith us throughout. We take many things for granted in our life.We take air for granted. We take it for granted that the sun willrise again. Similarly we take it for granted that friendship willnever suffer. But this is untrue. If we dont water the plant of ourfriendship regularly, our friendship will suffer and we may createa distance with our close friends. We need to value them and theirfriendship. Friends are comparable to flowers. For them to growand blossom, they must be provided with care and warmth. Andonce you start neglecting them, they will begin to wither and fadeaway. Friends like us, rely on one another to inspire and encourage,supporting each other in following our dreams as far as theylltake us. A friend is someone who is there for you when you needthem, and you there for them when they need you. Not lovingyour friend because of who she/he is and what she/he can giveyou, but for the sole reason that they are your friend. Some friendsstick closer than others and there are friends who will die for oneanother, thats what friendship is all about. I think time is a good

measure of friendship. Short term friendships come and go; truefriends are there for each other always, willing to help, comfort,support and share things - good and bad. Friendship is a two waystreet- you cant have a friend if that person doesnt want to be afriend. I think we should thank God for FRIENDS as we need themin our lives. Friendship is like a stapler- its easy to attach but hard to detachand worst is when you are able to detach it, it still leaves the paperdamaged! Friends like us are precious not only because we believe inourselves, but because we believe in each other. A friend, to me, is someonewho is always honest with me, someone who knows Im not the easiestof persons to be with, but accepts to love me nonetheless. These are FRIENDSto me. In the rhythm of life we sometimes find ourselves out of tune. But as long aswe have friends to provide the melody, the music plays on. I survive only because I amsurrounded by such lovely friends who make my existence easy and lighter. They areangels in disguise in my life, who are with me all the times hence they are imperativefor our existence. So enjoy your day with great fun and cherish the momentfor the years to come. I would like to end with a quote by Oprah Youhave a lot of friends when riding in a limousine, but your trueones are the ones that will ride the bus with you when the limousineis gone.

Wise Counsel

By Arlette Azavedo

OHERALDO

SMILE WITH SMITHA Smitha Bhandare Kamat

Letters should be 150 words or less in length,

and should have the writers name, address

and telephone number. The editor reserves

the right to edit letters for size and readability,

and to delete any personal attacks or libellous

/objectionable matter.

Konkani joins the big league

The Jnanpith Award is Indias highest literary award. It ispresented not by the government of India, but by theBharatiya Jnanpith, a trust founded by the Sahu Jain

family. Its name comes from the Sanskrit jnna-ptha meanspulpit of knowledge and the award includes an amount ofRs7 lakh, a citation plaque and a bronze replica of VagdeviSaraswati, the Hindu goddess of knowledge, music, and thearts. Only Indian writers in the countrys official languages, asrecognised by the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution of India,are eligible for the award.

Since it was instituted in 1961, it has been awarded 46times. Seven awards each have been won by writers in Kannadaand Hindi, followed by five writers in Bengali, four writers inMalayalam, three writers each in Gujarati, Oriya, Marathi andUrdu, two each in Telugu, Oriya, Tamil, Assamese and Punjabi,and one each in Kashmiri, Sanskrit and, now, Konkani. Till1992, the awards were given for a single work by a writer. Butsince then, the award is given for the writers lifetime contri-bution to Indian literature.

When he was presented the prestigious Jnanpith Award onSaturday at the Kala Academy by Lok Sabha Speaker MeiraKumar, octogenarian Konkani litterateur Ravindra Kelekar wasnot being honoured merely as an individual. For, the award isas much of an achievement for Konkani. Goas language nowranks with the best in the annals of Indian writing, and aKonkani writer has been recognised as having made an outstandingcontribution to the enrichment of Indian literature.

It is a triumphant ascent to the very summit of literary en-deavour for a language that, just 35 years ago, was not evenrecognised as one. It has been a long and hard climb. For it torecognise Konkani as an independent and literary language,the then Sahitya Akademi had to contend with a written threatfrom the then Goa government not to do so, and that if it did,rivers of blood could flow on the streets of Goa. Notwithstandingthat, the Akademi recognised Konkani on 26 February 1975.Needless to say, no blood was spilled.

Since then, it has been a steady uphill struggle, overcomingone insurmountable obstacle after another. After a year-longagitation that paralysed the state, turned violent and cost sixprecious lives, on 4 February 1987, the Goa Legislative Assemblypassed the Official Language Bill making Konkani Goas officiallanguage.

Konkani was finally included in the Eight Schedule of theConstitution, became one of the countrys official langua