AGENCIES

Chennai, March 5: Tamil

Nadus ruling DMK on Sat-

urday ended its seven-year

alliance with the Congress

and pulled out of the United

Progressive Alliance (UPA)

government after running

into roadblocks over seat

sharing in Assembly elec-

tions only a month away.

The dramatic decision,

announced after a meeting

of DMK leaders including

Chief Minister M.

Karunanidhi, robbed Man-

mohan Singhs Government

of majority support in the

Lok Sabha where the Con-

gress-led UPA coalition will

now have only 256 MPs.

But with the DMK saying

it would still give issue-

based support, a stand sim-

ilar to that of the Samajwadi

Party and Bahujan Samaj

Party (BSP), Congress

sources said there was no

immediate danger to the

UPA government.

The DMK move, however,

took the Congress by sur-

prise. One of its leaders,

Satyavrat Chaturvedi, called

the decision sudden.

The DMK move followed

the Congress insistence on

contesting from 63 of Tamil

Nadus 234 assembly seats

while a peeved DMK was

willing to concede only 60.

As the Congress remained

adamant and reportedly

made it clear that it would

also pick the 63 seats,

Karunanidhi lashed out past

Friday midnight, calling the

Congress stand unjustified.

At the Saturday evening

meeting, DMK leaders

voiced bitterness vis-a-vis

the Congress and decided it

was time to part ways with a

party they had allied with

since the 2004 LS polls.

The Voice of Goa - - Since 1900

InsIde

Panjim I March 6, 2011 I Postal Reg. No. Goa 101 I Price Rs. 3.00 I Air Surcharge Rs 2 I Pages 16+10

LIbYA ASKS UN TO SUSPEND SANCTIONS >> P12

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visit us at: www.oheraldo.in

Panjim orphaned by city fathers

P9

Talks on seat-sharing for TN polls fail

DMK pulls out of UPA

THe NUmBeRS GAme

n The UPA is in no dangerof losing majority at theCentre

n DMK with 18 membersis third largest in theUPA

n Congress has 207 MPswhile Trinamool 19

n Others NCP (9), NC (3),IUML (2) and JVM andVCK (1 each)

n With outside support ofSP, BSP, RJD, JDS thestrength of UPA minusthe DMK stands at311, well past themagic figure of 272

All-male tour of Goa for womens meet rocks Nagpur

SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

Panjim, March 5: A recent

three-day tour-cum-work-

shop junket to Goa by zonal

chairpersons of the Nagpur

Municipal Corporation

(NMC) became a hot topic of

an hour-long debate in the

NMC on Thursday, with

heated arguments and fist-

shaking between ruling

Bharatiya Janata Party

(BJP) leaders and Opposi-

tion corporators.

>Continued on pg 12

AJAY THAKUR

In a gross security viola-

tion which could have

immense ramifications,

the immigration authorities in

Goa have issued as many as

3148 Temporary Landing Per-

mits in 2010, to foreigners ar-

riving in Goa, who did not

have visas. This violation is

further compounded by the

fact that the figure for 2010 is

ten times more than the TLPs

issued in 2006.

Security agencies in the

country have warned of Goa

being on the radar of several

terrorist organisations and

the entry of foreigners virtu-

ally unchecked, in an ostensi-

ble effort to boost tourism,

has compromised the secu-

rity apparatus in Goa and the

rest of the country.

Temporary Landing Permits,

according to the Bureau of

Immigration, can be issued

only in an emergency for a

maximum period of 72 hours

or earlier if the passenger has

a confirmed return flight. The

risk is that there is no detailed

background check of the

passenger available on land-

ing. Therefore, a permission

which is granted only in rare

cases has been used as a

regular norm in Goa, giving

access to these so called

tourists to the rest of the

country.

In 2006, 347 passengers got

TLPs against 1192 crew

members. In 2010 3148 pas-

sengers got TLPs against

3969 crew members. Inter-

estingly, while 850 Charter

Flights landed in 2006, the

number went up to about

1000 in 2010. Surely an incre-

ment of 150 odd flights

would not have incremented

the crew strength by a

whopping three times!

Sources at the airport reveal

that Minar Air and Ciceron Air

Travel (CAT) have acquired a

particular notoriety in their

quest to push in more

tourists, unchecked.

Many tourists or so called

tourists misuse the condi-

tions of the TLP too. On

March 3, the Pernem police

detained five Russian

tourists for overstaying.

They had landed in Goa on

February 9, 2011 and got a

TLP till February 15, by SP Im-

migration Tony Fernandes.

However, they were in Goa

18 days after their permit

lapsed. Moreover, there are

no explanations regarding

the emergency situation, if

any which required the SP

immigration to give a TLP of a

duration more than the per-

missible 72 hours.

The only silver lining is that

the Bureau of Immigration

under the ministry of Home

affairs will soon take charge

>Continued on pg 12

Goa issued 3148 TLPs to visa-less touristsWhat if even one of them was a terrorist?

TEAM HERALD

Panjim, March 5: This isnt a

new story but its spirit lives

on. In an effort to bust the

scam of ghost workers, the

CCP Commissioner Sanjith

Rodrigues tenure died an

unnatural death.

Barely a month into his

second term as Commis-

sioner in the present Corpo-

ration, Rodrigues realised

that every month cash pay-

ments were doled out in the

name of hundreds of daily

wage workers. Inquiries re-

vealed three things a) The

workers were completely fic-

titious b) they were real but

had no valid orders c) they

had orders which had ex-

pired.

To his shock and horror,

the Commissioner realised

that officials in the Corpora-

tion were deeply involved in

handing over cash payments

against vouchers which

were obviously forged in the

name of these workers. He

then coined the term ghost

workers. In an attempt to

bring transparency to the

system and put the facts on

the table, he submitted a de-

tailed report on this as well

as other scams of the Corpo-

ration to the Goa Legislative

Assembly in July 2009, about

a month after he assumed

office on June 22, 2009.

In his report he men-

tioned that according to a

circular issued by the Direc-

tor of Municipal Administra-

tion, apart from specific daily

wage recruitments, recruit-

ment of daily wage workers

in any Municipality/CCP

was banned. He then men-

tioned It has been noticed

that daily wage workers at

the CCP have been main-

tained on a regular basis and

(as on date) 352 workers are

>Continued on pg 12

THe lOOT Of PANjim - 2

The ghosts remained, the ghost buster got booted outEx-CCP Commissioners report on the mess submitted to the Assembly. No action was taken

TEAM HERALD

Panjim, March 5: The four-

day Carnival festival com-

menced in the capital city of

Panjim even as the impact of

pruned budget by the State

Government was evident in

the overall parade.

In absence of State

Tourism Minister Nilkant

Halarnkar, who is touring

United States, Chief Secre-

tary Sanjay Srivastava in the

presence of Tourism Secre-

tary D C Sahu flagged off the

parade near Old secretariat.

Thousands of people in-

cluding foreign tourists

thronged the street from

Patto Bridge to Campal to

witness the parade led by

King Momos float, flanked

by his Queens.

Officials said that nearly

30,000 people participated

on the first day of the festival.

Unlike Brazilian Carni-

val, nudity and obscene be-

haviour is strictly banned on

floats. We had thoroughly

scanned each float before it

being rolled out on the

street, said an official from

the Panjim Carnival Com-

mittee.

Some 200-odd policemen

drawn from north Goa po-

lice stations and reserves

and civil defense personnel

were deployed on the parade

route and various junctions

to divert the traffic.

But it was still a misman-

aged scene as people rushed

in the middle of the road

leaving the law enforcers

helpless.

Several colourful floats,

clowns and other interesting

presentations rolled on the

street with messages on en-

vironment protection, village

and agricultural life, etc.

A local group had interest-

ingly dedicated a float in

memory of Paul, the psychic

octopus, who became a pop

culture sensation by cor-

rectly predicting the out-

come of eight football World

Cup matches.

111 floats participated on

the first day of Carnival.

Carnival gets off to a dull start

HERALD REPORTER

Panjim, March 5: Goa State

Commission of Protection of

Child Rights (SCPCR) this

week summoned three pre-

primary school teachers

after a parent complained

that his daughter was being

harassed in the school.

Parent Shivdas Nasnod-

kar has alleged that Chubby

Cheeks authorities were ha-

rassing and mentally tortur-

ing his daughter studying in

Class 3.

My child is scared and

frightened to go to school

now. I had raised this issue

several times before the

school authorities, he said.

According to the com-

plaint letter to the SCPCR

and Department of Educa-

tion, the harassment began

with the function organised

to celebrate the school prin-

cipals wedding anniversary

on February 14, 2011.

Here, school parents were

made compulsory to attend

the gathering with an entry

>Continued on pg 12

School officials get noticeover harassment to student

SUNDAY ANCHOR

YEH DIL MANGE MO: King Momo and his Queens wave to the crowd along the Carnival route in Panjim on Saturday.

The floats which drew an estimated 30,000 people failed to live up to the expectations.

Rozario Estibeiro

2 www.oheraldo.in

goa PINC (Panjimiites Initiative for Change)has seen these social workers get intotongue lashing against the corrupt andscam-ridden CCP affairs and also aremoving door to door appealing people tovote for the right candidates.

You must understand, he cannot fool peo-ple all the time. He throws money and winsvotes. He managed it for the first time. Letevery Panjimite ask if they really want aperson like Babush as their MLA.

Manohar Parrikar

SNAPSHOT

Goa I Sunday 6, March 2011

Theft case registered

MARGAO: Margao police has registered a case of

theft against unknown miscreants for lifting away

cash and gold ornaments from the house of one

Anand Govindanandan at Dongorim Navelim.

The police said the victim lodged his complaint on

Saturday stating that unknown culprits stole away

cash and gold ornaments amounting Rs 76,000

from his house on February 23.

The miscreants are believed to have effected entry

into the house through the rear door. The Margao

police are investigating.

Two-wheeler catches fireMARGAO: A two-wheeler parked in the heart of the

Commercial Capital caught fire on Saturday noon

near the Mabai hotel.

Margao PSI Ravi Desai who rushed to the spot

used his presence of mind and tried to extinguish

the fire with the help of a water pipe from the Mar-

gao Municipal garden. The fire brigade later joined

in the operation.

By the time the fire brigade reached the spot, the

fire was extinguished.

The cause of the fire is being ascertained.

2 arrested for assault PORVORIM: A resident of Corjuem-Aldona has ac-

cused two persons of assaulting her husband on

Saturday morning.

In her police complaint, Shashikala Bandodker

stated that her husband, Shyamsunder, was as-

saulted at about 11.45 am by two persons with an

iron road.

Since Shyamsunder sustained injuries he was

treated in the hospital.

Mapusa police has registered a offence against the

two persons under Sections 324, 341 and 506 of

Indian Penal code. The reason for the assault is

stated to be previous animosity.

Modesty outragedPORVORIM: A woman from Siolim has accused two

unknown persons of outraging her modesty.

In her complaint, Susan Fernandes told Mapusa

police that the incident took place while she was

travelling in a bus from Siolim to Mapusa.

Police has registered the offence under Sections

341, 354 read with 34 of Indian Penal code and is

investigating the case.

2 tourists rescued at calangute CALANGUTE: Two tourists from Bangalore were res-

cued at Calangute on Friday .

Lifeguards Gopal Narvekar and Yogesh Dubey res-

cued two tourists from Bangalore while they strug-

gled to swim ashore.

Abbas and Zeeshan, both 21 years of age, were

among a group of 10 tourists who went for a swim

in the Calangute sea.

The duo were seen swimming vigorously by the Dr-

ishti Team but after a while they were unable to

move, perhaps due to fatigue.Noticing the duo in

distress, the lifeguards swam across and brought

them safely ashore with the help of a Jet-Ski.

8 beach structures demolishedCANACONA: In a surprise move, tourism depart-

ment officials demolished eight thatched struc-

tures at Rajbag-Tarir beach on Friday.

According to sources, some tourism officials along

with a few labourers descended on the Tarir-Rajbag

shore, the home ward of Canacona Municipal

Chairperson Ratnakar Dhuri, and razed eight thatched

structures, which some local people allegedly were

using to sell juices and fruits on the beach.

When contacted, Dhuri informed that initially he

had no knowledge of the tourism department dem-

olition squad reaching the municipal shore, but he

later learnt about the development.

"Those were only thatched structures which the

tourism department had cleared from the beach at

Tarir-Rajbag on Friday," Dhuri said.

Dhuri was, however, unable to answer why the mu-

nicipal administration had failed to demolish the il-

legal structures, prompting the tourism department

to take action.

CORRIDORS OF POWER Suraj Nandrekar

The wheel turns as MGP, BJP plan a futureThe wheel comes a full circle

or shall we say the political

wheel continues to move in

circles. The now we are

friends, now we are not,

MGP and the BJP are plan-

ning to join hands yet again.

BJP senior leader Gopinath

Munde and the MGP leader

Lahu Mandrekar have both

made conciliatory gestures

of coming together.

The MGP, which is a coali-

tion partner in the current

Digambar Kamat govern-

ment, is in favour renewing

the old friendship which was

broken in 2002, when

Manohar Parrikar abruptly

dissolved the assembly.

The BJP-MGP love-hate af-

fair started in 1994 when

the saffron brigade got four

legislators elected that year

with the support of Goas

oldest regional party. The al-

liance then supported Fran-

cisco Sardinha to form the

government in 1999 and in

2000, when Parrikar became

the chief minister after oust-

ing Sardinha, the MGP sup-

ported him from outside.

The alliance came to an end

in 2002 when Parrikar, the

then CM, dropped Pan-

durang Raut as a minister

and Ramkrishna Dhavlikar

who was the chairman of

the Economic Development

Corporation, which later led

to snap polls that year.

Thereafter, they never

aligned again even though

then Prime Minister Atal Bi-

hari Vajpayee was in favour

of alliance. Parrikar however

did not agree.

Seven years later in 2009,

the BJP made an effort to

form an alliance during the

last Lok Sabha elections in

an effort to secure the

North Goa Lok Sabha seat.

However, MGP's senior

members were not keen on

the alliance considering the

bitter experience of the past,

where the BJP ate into

MGP's traditional vote bank.

Certain sections within the

MGP feel that the situation

is similar again.

This section is uncomfort-

able about parting ways

with the Congress and los-

ing its lone minister in the

present cabinet Party leaders

of both the BJP and the

MGP agree leaders agree

that they should unite to

consolidate the Hindu

vote.

It is pertinent to note here

that the alliance with the

BJP in the past has never

helped MGP grow.

Instead BJP was successful

in diverting most of MGPs

traditional votes.

Feedback: suraj@herald-

goa.com

The BJP-MGP love-hate affair started in1994 when the saffron brigade got fourlegislators elected that year with thesupport of Goas oldest regional party.The alliance then supported FranciscoSardinha to form the government in1999 and in 2000, when Parrikar be-came the chief minister after oustingSardinha, the MGP supported him fromoutside.

looking back

If the Congress had not pulled me down, I wouldhave politically finished Babush once and for allThe elections to the Corporation of the City of Panjim will be, on paper, be fought by individual candidatesbacked by panels. But its really a battle which is bigger than thirty wards. Its a battle for political spaceand power. Its a battle between Manohar Parrikar, called the creator of Babush Monseratte and his cre-ation, the MLA of Taleigao who wants to be MLA of Panjim. In an interview to Sujay Gupta, Manohar Parrikar discusses a range of issues from his tag of creator tohis past mistakes

Herald: Babush Monser-

attes growth is a result of

your patronage. You created

Babush

Parrikar: I did not create

Babush. When he became

an MLA for the first time, no

one expected him to win. He

had come with a mandate.

That was a year when the

BJP fell short of the majorty

mark. We had 17 MLAs and

the Congress had 16. I had

no option but to make up the

numbers and had to ally

with the MGP and the

UGDP. At that point of time,

no one knew who Monser-

atte was or what he would

be.

Herald: so are you saying

you inducted an unknown

Monseratte, but it is under

you that he grew.

Parrikar: Did he get in-

volved in a single contro-

versy in my government. I

sacrificed my government

when I knew that he had to

go after he started manipu-

lating the ODP plans of

Taleigao. When I realised

that I could not have a man

like him in my government,

I took Pratapsinh Rane and

other opposition leaders into

confidence. They however

played politics and my gov-

ernment went. If I they had

understood what I was say-

ing and given me some time,

I would have finished

Babush once and for all.

Herald:What happened

next?

Parrikar: Babushs house

became the Congress office,

all MLAs were bundled

there and the next congress

government was formed in

his bedroom. And they call

me his creator.

Herald: But Babush grew

from strength to strength.

He won elections. He is a se-

rious challenger to you for

the Panjim assembly seat

Parrikar: You must under-

stand, he cannot fool people

all the time. He throws

money and wins votes. He

managed it for the first time.

The middle class is wary of

him. Educated people are

wary of him. Let every hon-

ourable Panjimite ask if they

really want a person like

Babush as their MLA. Let

him win an election without

money power. Actually let

him try and win even with

money power. Let there be a

snap poll without canvassing

and see if he stands a chance

Herald: Mr Parrikar, you

are an intelligent man. You

do realise that a lot of your

efficiency has been under-

mined by your label of being

communal

Parrikar: I can now admit

to this much. Even if I know

Im not the way Im por-

trayed, I did things inadver-

tently which may have

conveyed that impression.

For instance the decision to

cancel the Good Friday holi-

day was did not originate

from me. There was a cen-

tral government circular to

cut holidays and it was a rou-

tine decision. I realised later

that its impact would be dif-

ferent. My PR skills were

also not very good. I was

abrasive sometimes even

with the press. You know

it.

Herald: so what does this

election mean to you?

Parrikar: More than me, a

victory in this election will

give confidence to the people

of Panjim that elections can

be won without the force of

power and money. That

confidence is very impor-

tant.

HERALD REPORTER

Panjim, March 5: Mass

transport system, collection

of taxes at your door step,

elimination of corruption

and plugging of revenue

leakages are the highlights of

manifesto unveiled by BJP

backed Panaji First panel

on saturday.

shut down of illegal casi-

nos operations in the city

and beautification of st Inez

creek are other major high-

lights of the manifesto.

The city manifesto of the

Panjim First panel released

at the hands of MP shripad

Naik has assured corruption

free-governance.

The manifesto has been

divided between seven

major heads - traffic and

parking solution, innovative

facilities, better infrastruc-

ture, responsive governance,

generation next, build brand

Panjim and a human touch.

The city, which is cur-

rently facing a traffic mess

might see introduction of

Mass Rapid Transport sys-

tem, once the panel gains

power.

Priority like Bus Rapid

Transport (BRT) and hop-in

and hop-out buses for an ef-

ficient public transport net-

work will be introduced, the

manifesto reads.

The Panel has also pro-

posed to have a creative

parking facility including

innovative parking solu-

tions using latest tech-

nologies.

CCP will be going for

polls on March 13 in

which BJP backed panel

Panjim First is pitted

against Education Minis-

ter Atanasio Monserratte

supported panel.

The manifesto, which was

unveiled in the presence of

Leader of Opposition

Manohar Parrikar and can-

didate for Mayor Ashok Naik

also led emphasis on provid-

ing door to door tax collection

and online payment of fees,

taxes and license fees.

For the first time, a 24x7

helpline for services of

plumbers, electricians and

masons would be made

available at reasonable fees.

We would try to eliminate

red-tapism, corruption and

bureaucratic hassles

through transparent and in-

novative solutions, Parrikar

said adding that around Rs 3

crore direct scam has been

noticed by us in last five

years.

If you go to its depth, it

might vary from Rs 8 to Rs

10 crore, he said.

Parrikar has also assured

to recover all the pending

dues, which would generate

revenue worth crores of ru-

pees.

Panel wont allow gov-

ernment to get tax free

regime, he said.

Panaji First panel has

also assured to complete the

work of the city municipal

market along with the com-

pletion of market complex at

Mala.

The Panel has also de-

cided to restore the states

only football stadium at

Campal to its original

glory.

Parrikar said that the at-

tempts are made to lure vot-

ers by offering them huge

sums.

The oppositions are in-

vesting their money so that

they can gain once they get

elected. Our investment is

our efforts, he said.

BJP manifesto assures shut down of illegal casinos

Customs staff told not to leave Margao HERALD REPORTER

Panjim, March 5: North

Goa Collector and Returning

Officer Mihir Vardhan on

saturday asked the officer of

Commissioner of Customs

and Central Excise to di-

rect its employee Michael

Fernandes not to leave

Margao till the Corporation

of City of Panjim (CCP)

polls conclude.

The order was passed fol-

lowing a complaint by con-

testing candidate Aires

Rodrigues alleging that

Michael was violating the

Code of Conduct by helping

his wife Vivina Nasnodkar,

contesting candidate of ward

no. 30 in the election cam-

paign.

Incidentally, lawyer activist

Aires is also contesting from

the same ward.

Meanwhile, on directions

by the state Election Com-

mission, the Old Goa police

have intensified patrolling in

Ribandar.

The police have been di-

rected to be on the watch

for violations of the Code

of Conduct after Michael

has been accused of dis-

tributing money, gifts and

alcohol to the voters in

ward no 30.

Aires has further urged

the Customs and Central Ex-

cise officials to probe into the

huge disproportionate assets

acquired by Michael during

the last five years while his

wife was a corporator at the

Corporation of City of Pan-

jim.

Sachin Ambadoskar

CCP polls: PINCcould come inhandy for BJP SHWETA KAMAT

Panjim, March 5: The on-

coming Corporation of the

City of Panjim (CCP) polls

has something which other-

wise might be called as a po-

litically incorrect.

social activists like Oscar

Rebello and Arvind

Bhatikar, who, otherwise,

find BJP leader Manohar

Parrikar ideologically wrong,

are supporting almost half of

the candidates in his panel.

PINC (Panjimiites Initia-

tive for Change) has seen

these social workers get into

tongue lashing against the

corrupt and scam-ridden

CCP affairs and also are

moving door to door appeal-

ing people to vote for the

right candidates.

In a recently held press

conference, PINC an-

nounced their 29 favourites

out of 30 wards including

NCP General secretary

Avinash Bhosle. The NCP

leader seemed to be only

odd face in the list.

We have given you a

choice of candidates, who

are young, who have no

money and are clean, Re-

bello said.

There are some candi-

dates who have swimming

pools in their house, one of

the candidate said only to be

rebutted by Rebello. The

practicing doctor said that

they have offered compara-

tively a better list of candi-

dates, whom you can grill

and make perform.

PINC has come as a relief

for BJP backed panel as

they have another force,

which is anti-Babush.

There are 15 BJP backed

candidates, followed by 15

Independents including so-

cial activist Aires Rodrigues

and four NCP candidates.

Anyone who supports us

are welcome. Each vote

counts in such kind of situa-

tion, Parrikar said offering

a cautious reaction on PINC.

PINC, which is the first

ever attempt by many social

activists to directly get in-

volved in the civic polls, has

a former IAs officer, doctors,

professors, freedom fighter,

and other like minded indi-

viduals.

Rebello told Herald that

they have been going

around in each wards after

their regular working hours

and asking people to vote for

PINC recognized candi-

dates. Election analyst said

that increase in voting per-

centage will work in favour

of BJP backed and NCP

backed panel.

3 www.oheraldo.in

goa The Goa government has claimed that theyhave no finances to spare to fix the problemforcing the officers to match the fingerprintsmanually. The software, Fingerprint analysisand Criminal Tracing System, malfunctionedin 2006 and has remained in this state.

We would try to eliminate red-tapism, cor-ruption and bureaucratic hassles throughtransparent and innovative solution.around Rs 3 crore direct scam has beennoticed by us in last five years.

-- Manohar Parrikar

Goa I Sunday 6,March 2011

Govt doesnt lift a finger to get facts right

Fingerprint shutdown-1

The Goa government repeatedly stretches the imagination of its worst cynics when it comes to inefficiency. The Fingerprint Analysis and Crim-inal Tracing system (FACTS), a software that stores and matches finger prints of criminals at the touch of a button, has crashed for five years.Vibha Verma points a finger at the health of Goas fingerprint bureau in a 2 part series

FINGER FACTS

nFingerprints of 30,000 history - sheeters in the

crashed software

nMatching done manually for five years delaying in-

vestigations

nNo software to retrieve data from the existing data

base

nFingerprints Bureau has proposed a New Auto-

mated Fingerprints Identification System on 2009. The

government hasnt responded claiming lack of funds

Panjim: Over 30,000 fin-

gerprints, mostly belonging

to the history sheeters, are

locked in State polices

computers at fingerprint

bureau, as the system has

crashed almost five years

ago.

The Goa government has

claimed that they have no fi-

nances to spare to fix the

problem forcing the officers

to match the fingerprints

manually.

The software, Finger-

print Analysis and Criminal

Tracing System (FACTS),

malfunctioned in 2006 and

has remained in this state

since then.

Officials claim that in

absence of the software,

by CMC Ltd at Hyderabad

in 2002 but after the contract

expired, the company al-

legedly quoted extremely

high amount to execute the

Annual Maintenance Con-

tract.

The proposal was re-

jected even as the sys-

tem still remains out of

order. Dogged with the

problems, in one of the

note sheets placed before

the superiors on January

8, 2009, the fingerprints

bureau suggested procur-

ing of New Automated

Fingerprints Identifica-

tion System, but this pro-

posal too was not taken

into account.

In the meantime, futile

efforts were made to repair

the system continued. The

department was not going

ahead with several proposals

because it lacked funds,

said the officer.

the required data cannot

be retrieved from the ex-

isting fingerprint data-

base. The Bureau has sent

several reminders to repair

and upgrade the software,

but the proposals too are

gathering dust

FACTS stores fingerprint

records picked up from the

scene of crime, which can be

matched at a click of a but-

ton.

But with the system fail-

ing, the entire work is done

manually, which is labouri-

ous.

We cannot provide

chance prints. Investigations

are affected because the

database cannot be retrieved

for comparison of finger-

prints, said a senior police

officer on condition of

anonymity.

Although the entire back-

log is stored in a hardcopy,

the matching takes time,

which has also resulted in

several suspected criminals

getting away because fin-

gerprints couldnt be

matched.

The system was procured

4 www.oheraldo.in

avaz At present, the GHB is facing a financialcrunch. Besides, the GHB owes a loan of Rs 34lakh to the Life Insurance Company andhence, it is unable to construct a new marketin the area

Nilkant Halarnkar

Everyone seems interested in making a fastbuck and no one is interested in the rules andregulations. Others are illegally involved in theactivitiesWater sports operator Francis Cardozo

Goa I Sunday 6, March 2011

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that everyone has the right to work, to free choice of employment and to just andfavourable conditions of work. Problems, however, arise when conditions are not always favourable to pursue employment. Heralds team ofcorrespondents have focussed on three such conditions that have hindered employment in the State -- a traditional livelihood that is on theverge of extinction, deplorable infrastructure that has threatened livelihood and rivals competing for the same livelihood.

It was once a major liveli-

hood for residents of

Canacona taluka for

generations, but the toddy-

tapping profession is now on

the verge of extinction.

Lured by the high-earn-

ing jobs in the Gulf and

other countries, besides

tourism activities and white-

coloured jobs in the State,

the youth have been desert-

ing this traditional activity in

recent times.

According to the few fam-

ilies still practicing the pro-

fession, there was a time

when around 2,000 families

used to earn their livelihood

solely on toddy-tapping in

Canacona alone. The figure

has now dwindled alarm-

ingly to less than 25 families,

still braving to distil the

brew, the Feni (toddy).

Apart from farming,

toddy-tapping was at one

time one of the most popular

professions in Canacona

taluka. Such was the popu-

larity of the profession at one

time that it was beneficial not

only to the toddy-tappers, but

even the landlords who

owned coconut groves, as

they used to earn substan-

tially by renting out coconut

trees to professional toddy-

tappers.

There used to be several

instances where landlords

themselves would run toddy

distilleries by hiring toddy-

tappers on a monthly basis.

According to the excise

department, there are ap-

proximately 41 licenses re-

newed for local distilleries.

However, sources claimed

that there are not more than

25 such licensed holders in

operation. Some traditional

toddy-tappers are known to

merely renewing their li-

censes.

Palolem and Agonda are

the two villages predomi-

nantly involved in toddy-

tapping over the years.

Khola, Poinguinim and

Loliem were not really lag-

ging behind, as these locali-

ties too had several

professionals thriving on the

occupation.

In Agonda there are only

four toddy-tappers left and

each one is known for their

dedication to their work.

Their dedication is such

that these toddy-tappers

turn up thrice a day on their

respective palm trees to get

enough output and distil

feni without any adulter-

ation.

The situation is similar in

Palolem, Khola, Loliem-

Polem and Poinguinim,

where only a handful of

toddy-tappers are left to

continue the profession.

Incidentally, the tradi-

tional toddy-tappers would

celebrate an annual thanks-

giving mass every year at old

Goa in honour of St Francis

Xavier on February 27.

Earlier, a minimum of

three buses used to ply from

each of the villages to attend

the annual thanksgiving

mass at Old Goa. At present,

only one minibus, compris-

ing a few practicing toddy-

tappers and their

well-wishers, are left to

maintain this traditional re-

ligious ceremony.

When toddy-tapping was

once a thriving profession,

an association had been

formed to cater to the wel-

fare of its practitioners and

their families.

This association, which

used to be a force to reckon

with in Canacona taluka, is

virtually a non-entity now,

with little or no role to play

in the social and political ac-

tivity of the taluka.

In a bid to revive the pro-

fession, the All Goa Toddy

Tappers Association had

even put forth a list of de-

mands before the govern-

ment.

When the government ex-

tended some benefits to the

association members, the

membership list rose a bit,

as a few families tried to ei-

ther enter the profession or

revive the tradition.

The decline of the profes-

sion has also led to the re-

placement of traditional im-

plements used in the profes-

sion.

Except for the Kathi (a

sharp tool used by tappers

to regularly cut the toddy

bud), all other equipment

have undergone a major

change. The traditional

mud utensils to collect and

store toddy have been re-

placed by plastics. Even the

distillery earlier fitted with a

potter-made baan (large

size mud utensil) has now

been replaced by a cooper

utensil.

Thriving not too long ago, toddy-tapping has few takers

While the demand for coconut Feni remained high

with every passing year, the producers however have

declined to a great extent, leading to large-scale adul-

teration of the brew once known for its chaste taste.

As widely believed, one of the prime reasons why

genuine toddy-tappers had dwindled to a large extent

is because of heavy practices of distilling Feni out

with toddy mixed with sugar and jaggery.

The Feni that we distill is very pure and safe and

our customers are mostly either seamen or Gulf re-

turnees, explains Joazinh Fernandes, a local toddy-

tapper from Agonda and the only youngster left in

the trade besides the other three seasoned profes-

sionals.

Many people order months in advance. Our lim-

ited drawn Feni is very high in demand locally. Even

people from as far as Panjim and Mapusa approach

us for supply of feni, said Fernandes.

According to Fernandes, one Kolso (about 18 bot-

tles of 750 ml) costs Rs 1,200. However, some local

consumable outlets are known to buy a Kolso for

even Rs 800. But those cannot be genuine Feni, re-

marked Fernandes.

The exceptional success of a few toddy-tappers in

the past had also depended on their capacity to strike

the right chord with some sea-traders who would

transport huge stocks of spirit to distant lands,

thereby earning hefty returns.

But now, this trade has been regulated by lawful

enforcement agencies. Besides, it is believed that

other types of spirits are preferred in the trade.

A toddy tapper (Render) at work in Agonda-Canacona.

kathy pereira

canacona

Coconut Feni adulteration takes toll on toddy-tappers

Kathy Pereira

It has developed at a

rapid pace and has even

acquired the status of a

constituency, but Porvorim

still lacks basic facilities like

a decent market complex.

Porvorim boasts of the

prestigious Legislative As-

sembly complex, a number

of government offices, sev-

eral hospitals, banks and ed-

ucational institutions.

However, a decent market

complex is yet to take shape

in the fastest growing town-

ship in the State.

Porvorim lacks a good

market complex where all

types of goods are available

under one roof. At present,

residents of Porvorim are

forced to travel to either Pan-

jim or Mapusa to buy essen-

tial items like food items,

clothing, utensils, shoes,

readymade garments, elec-

tronic items, etc.

The existing market com-

plex in the Housing Board at

Alto-Betim is in a pathetic

condition. Plaster of the roof

and walls of this market have

peeled off at many places

and during monsoon, the

water seeps through the roof

of the shops.

Besides, the electricity

wires are seen dangling dan-

gerously and pose a serious

threat to the lives of the peo-

ple. Some time ago, a short

circuit had led to a fire in

some shops of the old mar-

ket complex.

The unhygienic condi-

tions in and around the mar-

ket are such that customers

have stopped visiting the

market and many shop own-

ers have closed down their

shops.

The market has now be-

come a place of shelter for

beggars, animals and Matka

bookies. In fact, several ta-

bles are laid along the corri-

dors of the market, where

Matka bookies are doing

brisk business, with authori-

ties remaining mute specta-

tors to the illegal trade.

In the absence of any

maintenance, the market is

on the verge of the collapse.

The condition of the mar-

ket is getting worse day by

day, as there is no mainte-

nance of the building, said

Mr Mahambre, a shop-

keeper in the market area.

During the monsoons, it

becomes impossible to do

business here as rainwater

seeps into the shops through

broken roof tiles. Since cus-

tomers have stopped visiting

the market most shopkeep-

ers have closed down their

shops. It is high time that the

Goa Housing Board demol-

ishes this market and con-

structs a new one,

Mahambre added.

According to officials of

the Goa Housing Board

(GHB) at Porvorim, the mar-

ket in the Housing Board

Colony was built almost 36

years ago.

The Town and Country

Planning Department had

assigned construction work

of the 42-shop market com-

plex, to the GHB, while the

maintenance was entrusted

to the PWD. The market was

later handed over to the GHB

in 2004, said an official.

During the last 36 years,

the shops have changed

many hands and at present,

only a few shop owners pay

rent to the GHB. There has

been no increase in the rent of

the shops, added the officials.

The rent of the shops still

ranges from Rs 130 to Rs 230,

due to which the GHB is re-

luctant to undertake mainte-

nance of the shops, said the

officials.

According to Shekhar

Vaigankar of Porvorim, the

entire Porvorim plateau de-

veloped at a rapid pace dur-

ing the last 15 years,

especially after the construc-

tion of the new Mandovi

Bridge.

Construction activities

are in full swing at present

and there has been substan-

tial rise in the population too.

Hence, a good market is the

need of the hour for the resi-

dents of Porvorim, said

Vaigankar.

It is high time that the vil-

lage panchayats located at

Porvorim as well as the Al-

dona MLA look into this

matter seriously to fulfil the

long-pending demand of res-

idents in Porvorim, said the

resident.

Rapidly developing Porvorimlacks basic amenities

The dilapidated market at Porvorim.

Anil Shankhwalker

anil shankhwalker

bardez

Minister for Housing

Board Nilkant Halarnkar

has said the Goa Housing

Board (GHB) is very eager

to construct a new market

for residents of Porvorim.

However at present, the

GHB is facing a financial

crunch. Besides, the GHB

owes a loan of Rs 34 lakh to

the Life Insurance Com-

pany and hence, it is unable

to construct a new market

in the area, admitted

Halarnkar, while speaking

to Herald. There was also

a suggestion that the con-

struction work of the mar-

ket be handed over to the

Goa State Infrastructure

Development Corporation.

However, the corporation

has been demanding the

transfer of land in its name

and also funds for the con-

struction of the market.

This is not possible,

Halarnkar added.

No finance, no market: MinisterB

irds of the similar

feather need not al-

ways flock together,

especially when they are

competing for the same busi-

ness along the Calangute

coast.

The legal water sports op-

erators along the Calangute

coast have cried foul due to

the presence of unautho-

rised water sports opera-

tors, claiming that the

unlicenced operators have

eaten into their share of the

business.

At present, there are

about 40 operators along the

Calangute-Baga belt, all

vying for the same pie.

The legal water sports op-

erators claim that they have

repeated complained to var-

ious operators, but all their

complaints have fallen on

deaf ears.

Authorities are well

aware of the illegal water

sports activities in the area,

but are not willing or inter-

ested in taking any legal ac-

tion against them. We pay

huge government fees, but

the illegal water sports oper-

ators do not pay a single

paisa and reap huge bene-

fits, complained Francis

Cardozo, a water sports op-

erator from Calangute.

According to the water

sports operator, an associa-

tion to fight against any in-

justice to them was formed

some five years ago.

Unfortunately, everyone

seems interested in making

a fast buck and no one is in-

terested in the rules and reg-

ulations. Others are illegally

involved in the activities,

Cardozo said.

We have also briefed var-

ious authorities, but nothing

is happening and we are

suffering due to the illegal

operators, who have been

dominating the sports activ-

ities for quite a long time in

the coastal belt of

Calangute-Baga, claimed

Cardozo.

At times, there have been

mishaps due to the careless-

ness of the operators, most

of who are illegally operat-

ing, but the blame falls on

the entire water sports oper-

ators, he added.

When contacted, an offi-

cial of the tourism depart-

ment admitted that they are

unable to take strict action

against the illegal water

sports operators all over the

State's coastline.

Many of these illegal

water sports operators have

close contacts with influen-

tial people and as a result, no

action is taken to curb the

unlicenced activity, the offi-

cial said.

Competition hots up forwater sports activityalong Calangute coastUnlicenced operators throw caution to the winds

Water sports activity in coastal Calangute.

Thomas Fernandes

thomas fernandes

bardez

goa

5 www.oheraldo.in

Goa I Sunday 6, March 2011

Staining the beautiful and pristine imageof Goa is a sin that the Congress hasbeen perpetually committing

Gopinath Munde

Congress has been doing nothing for mi-norities and it calls itself secular. It is secu-lar only in the sphere of prostitution, drugsand other anti-social activities

MLA Francis DSouza

SNAPSHOTMeditation on twin heartsPANJIM: Dr Anjali Shackleton will organise a medita-

tion on twin hearts at Club Gaspar Dias, Miramar, on

March 6 at 5.30 pm.Meditation on twin hearts is a

technique aimed at achieving cosmic consciousness

and illumination. It is also a form of world service be-

cause the world is harmonized to a certain degree

through this meditation, said Dr Shackleton. For de-

tails, contact Dr Shackleton on 9987062209 or

2451080.

Rythmic breathing classesPANJIM: The Rhythmic Breathing Club, Goa will im-

part free training in simple yet extremely and immedi-

ately effective priceless exercises, on March 6 at 2nd

floor, Rotary Community Centre, Tilak Maidan com-

plex, Vasco, between 11 am to 1 pm.

Also on March 6, classes will be held at room no 2,

1st floor, Vidyadhiraj Hall (opp Hanuman Temple), Ma-

halakshmi temple complex, Panjim, from 6 pm to 8

pm. On March 11, classes will be held at Basement,

Radhakrishna temple, near Mahalakshmi Temple,

Panjim, from 6 pm to 6.45 pm. Contact Venkatesh

Betigiri, on 9422443421 for further details.

Corner stone layingBICHOLIM: The foundation stone laying function of

Utsav Mandap of Shri Mahamaya Temple, Mayem

will be organised on March 6 at 10 am.

Chowgule Mining Company Managing Director B S

Kantak, Senior Manager Ramchandra Prabhu

Alvekar, Chief Engineer Prashant Kutare, Manager

Shirgao Mines Ramesh Chodankar, company officers

Shankar Shet and Abhijeet Sadhle will be present.

Carnival at CansaulimPANJIM: The CAC Club in association with the Direc-

torate of Art and Culture and Youth of Cansaulim will

organise a 3-day carnival event from March 6 to 8.

On March 6, there will be float parade from

Cansaulim church to T B Cunha Sports Complex. Vari-

ous programmes like dance performance by Ex-

treme, band performance by Glen and his troupe,

one-act plays, musical show by Reagan and

Marcelino de Betim and his troupe, African acrobatic

by Spring Bok, Magic show by Reggie, mimicry by

Shaikh Amir, performance by Ferns trio, etc have

been lined up for the 3-day event. On March 8, Sonia

Sirsat and her band will be the star attraction.

Womens DayCALANGUTE: The Calangute Junior Chamber Interna-

tional will organize various competitions at Candolim

to mark the Womens Day on March 6.

The competitions include Salad Decoration competi-

tion, Making Food (without gas), Hair Style competi-

tion, Best Saree competition, etc.

All competitions will be conducted at Shantadurga

Temple, Candolim from 3 pm onwards.

QUEPEM: Villagers of Copelabhat-Ambaulim in Quepem

will celebrate their traditional Intruz Festival on March 6.

Intruz is a major festival celebrated by the menfolk of the

Village.

Intruz festival at Quepem

HERALD REPORTER

PANJIM, MARCH 5 : Staining

the beautiful and pristine

image of Goa is a sin that the

Congress has been perpetu-

ally committing stated

Gopinath Munde, senior BJP

leader.

Munde was addressing the

gathering at Gomantak

Maratha Samaj, during a

book release function of the

party.

The topic for the BJP

meeting was exposure of

corruption in the state and

country at large by the Con-

gress led government.

Stating that Goa has been

engulfed by various mafias

be it mining, drugs, forests,

etc, Munde promised the hall

full of supporters that the

BJP will free Goa from all

these offences.

He stated that the state has

been witnessing open cor-

ruption wherein televisions

and refrigerators were

openly donated to people to

win their votes.

And if the Goan govern-

ment is severely corrupted,

the centre is hundred times

more corrupted. With an in-

competent PM as its head,

public money has been

flaunted by the Congress as-

serted Munde.

The fight against corrup-

tion is not only in our hands

but also in the hands of the

Cong responsible for Goas tainted image: BJPpublic, affirmed Munde who

assured that the BJP will

fight against this tainted

image of Goa and restore its

pure and chaste identity of its

yesteryears.

The podium was shared by

the cream of the state BJP

leaders; opposition leader

Manohar Parikar, BJP candi-

date, North Goa MP Sripad

Naik, President of BJP unit

Goa, Laxminath Parsekar,

BJP MLA Damu Naik, Fran-

cis DSouza.

Congress has been doing

nothing for minorities and it

calls itself secular. It is secular

only in the sphere of prostitu-

tion, drugs and other anti-so-

cial activities alleged

DSouza.

Parrikar started his speech

by stating if a failure of Std

VIII is the education minister,

then think what the situation

of that government is. Gov-

ernment is so corrupt that for

every issue people have to re-

sort to the streets.

He alleged that Home Min-

ister Ravi Naik is not only in-

volved in the drug issue but

also in mining.

He claimed that an 8 crore

worth rupees anaerobic di-

gestor had been bought by

CCP to deal with garbage

problems but was broken

down on the eighth day.

Rulers and leaders are not neces-

sarily two parts of the same

species. In recent times they

have been antithetical. We are in a sea-

son where rulers have been booted out

by real leaders the people of Egypt

and hopefully the people of Libya.

Goa has no such luck. And thats not

because there is no leadership among

people. Its because there are is no one

ruler to boot out but a series of fiefs in

their own backyards which in real

terms are a conglomeration of villages.

The reason why Goa does not see the

complete cleansing of its polity is be-

cause the people who make up this

polity are satisfied with their world in

their constituencies and villages. Goa

can be cleaned only if Margao and Pan-

jim meet, Varca shakes hands with Vel-

sao and Sanguem and Sangolda meet

on a common platform.

Digambar Kamat and his merry men

survive because of a twist in the tale of

democracy where every minister is the

Chief Minister of his backyard. Let us

not make the mistake of calling Digam-

bar Kamats government a Congress

government.

It is a government of self-seeking in-

dividuals who have given permission to

the Congress to call them Congress-

men.

Quite unlike the rest of the country ,

where Congress MLAs build their

brand on the basis of their association

with the Congress, in Goa, the Congress

builds its brand by sticking close to its

powerful village chiefs like Churchill

Alemao, Joacquim Alemao, Vishwajeet

Rane, Ravi Naik, Babush Monseratte

and the list goes on.

Ive said this earlier and need to reit-

erate this. The Congress in Goa is lives

in the perennial fear that some of its

ministers who go in and out of its party

at will, will ultimately move on and form

groups or join other parties.

It lives in this fear because it never

felt the need to build the party from

below. It always took the easy way out

by plucking the fruits from the oldest

and the biggest tree. It grabbed what

was available. It did not cultivate. That

is why it does not have strong chal-

lengers to Churchill or Ravi Naik or

Vishwajeet or Babush, should they

leave the party.

There is another irony. The rare

breed of loyal or relatively loyal Con-

gressmen have all lost to party switch-

ers or newcomers. Agreed that some of

these losses were due to their own inef-

ficiencies but let this also be said that

the Congress has also worked to defeat

some of its loyalists. Luizinho Faleiros

loyalty is impeccable. His loyalty to the

Congress is greater than the sum total

of all other loyalties of Congressmen in

Goa. Yet he lost to Churchill Alemao in

Navelim.

Francisco Sardinha has played foot-

sie with the Congress, but in relative

terms he is more of a Congressman

than Vishwajeet Rane is. Sardinha too

lost from Curtorim and his conqueror

Alexio Reginald Lourenco first did

business with Churchill and then the

Congress.

Jitendra Deshprabhu of Pernem was

not a veteran MLA but he held some

beliefs of the Congress of old close to his

heart till the party sidelined him and

then created a situation which forced

him to join the NCP. And then he lost!

The irony takes another cruel twist.

Luizinho has the utmost respect among

the AICC and is now a general secre-

tary of the party.

While in his home state the party

president Subhash Shirodkar rushes to

plead with Churchill not to get angry at

the party, when the Varca boss thun-

ders that he would contest from Nave-

lim with or without the Congress

ticket. This is not hypocrisy. This is

weakness.

When a party loses foot soldiers, it

has no feet to stand on. That is why the

Congress now stands on the mercy of

the local chiefs who allow the party to

lend their name and symbol to them.

The government does not function.

Individual leaders spend time doing

deals. The leaders who allow them-

selves the Congress tag set out to do lip

service to the poor in daytime and then

party with deal makers at night hoping

its sunlight politics will fetch votes and

its twilight policies will enable them to

prosper.

The new AICC representative in

charge of Goa will not understand all

this. Thats because he is a real Con-

gressman. Nor will the AICC under-

stand Goa. But does it matter?

opinion6 www.oheraldo.in

The carnival was in the hearts and homesof people. It was about the door to doorhopping around. It was about the pianobeing dusted and played

Edit

While there may be good reason to namethe city for its safe harbour, it seems atravesty that Lisbon is not in fact calledLuz Boa

Jason Keith Fernandes

WEEKENDEDIT

Vol. No CXI No. 64 I Goa I Sunday 6, March 2011

PEOPLESEDIT

Editor-in-chief: Mr R F Fernandes. Editor: Sujay Gupta (Responsible under PRB

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Disclaimer: Except for the editorial above, articles and letters in Herald represent the views of the concerned authors, and do not necessarily

reflect the views of the Herald editor, publisher, and/or owners.

For l etters to the edi tor contact us at ed itor weekend@herald -goa.com

suJay Gupta

Dealers are the new Congress leaders in Goa

FLY ON THE WALL

Like so many children in India I

grew up in Goa in the shadow of

the former British Empire. As a

result London was a fabled city, the for-

mer centre of a truly global empire, and

imagined to be filled with architectural

marvels that should rightly grace an im-

perial centre.

Visiting London for the first time was

a truly depressing let down however.

There was practically nothing that was

on a truly monumental, imperial scale.

The experience on travelling to Lisbon

on the other hand was an entirely dif-

ferent matter.

Here indeed was a city that knew

how to present itself as an imperial cen-

tre. Huge squares framed by monu-

mental buildings. Faades of churches

that, to borrow a phrase from James

Fergusson, seemed to have been con-

ceived by giants and finished by jew-

ellers.

And to top it all, as if to stick a tongue

in the Englands gloomy direction, was

the light. Lisbons name is said to be de-

rived from the ancient name for the set-

tlement Olissipo. This name in turn was

associated with the mythical founding

of the city by Ulysses, the Greek adven-

turer of the epics. The more boringly

pedantic, will tell us that the name de-

rives not from the Greek adventurer,

but from the words that meant safe

harbour. In time, Olissipo was trans-

formed to its Arabic version Al-Isbuna,

until when after the crusader conquest

it came to be called Lisboa.

While there may be good reason to

name the city for its safe harbour, it

seems a travesty that Lisbon is not in

fact called Luz Boa, and named for its

good(Boa) light (luz).

This city has the most amazing light!

It is a light that is sharp and sparkly and

does the most amazing things to the

city. The contribution of this light first

dawned on me when traversing the city

one morning early in my stay of the city.

Moving from the cold shadows of the

Rua do Loreto into the light in the

Praa de Cames, one realised how

privileged one was to live in this incred-

ibly beautiful city of light.

Whether it is out in the squares, or on

jacaranda shaded avenues, the light

that this city receives converts the

golden yellow, salmon pink and powder

blue faades of its buildings into so

many Faberg eggs. Polished by the

scores of feet that daily caress the lime-

stone cobbled streets of the city, in this

light these sidewalks shine like so many

silken ribbons nestling these exquisite

precious eggs.

And this light induces ecstasy. Stand-

ing on the edge of the Praa de Cames

is the neo-classical faade of the church

of the Incarnation (Igreja da Encar-

nao). Surmounting this faade are a

series of dramatic ornamental urns

sculpted to appear as if with flames at

their mouths.

Come sunshine and these urns catch

the rays of the sun to incarnate vari-

ously as the burning bush of Sinai, or

the icon for the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

If light ever contributed to the drama of

architecture this is a perfect example.

The profound changes that this sight

works on ones sentiments can only be

experienced every attempt at descrip-

tion falling short.

It does drive home the point however

to the perfection of Lisbon as a stage for

this light. And it is thus that my heart

confesses, Lisboa, lux tua vita mihi

(your light is my life)!

Jason Keith Fernandes is currently en-

gaged in doctoral research at ICSTEs

Dept of Anthropology in Lisbon. When

not agonising over the state of his dis-

sertation, Jason offers unsolicited

opinons on law, culture and identity pol-

itics. He also desperately misses Goa.

LETTERS FROM PORTUGAL

Lux tua vita mihi

Jason KeitH

FernanDes

find us on facebooksearch for heraldweekend

Dr Hubert Gomes

Social activism has come a long

way in Goa. And thank God it

has. If it was not for our ac-

tivists, we would have had an in-

creased number of mega projects,

hill cuttings, CRZ violations, illegal

mining, land fillings, drugs and

human right violations. It was their

show of unity and strength under

the banner of GBA that stopped the

old demonic Regional Plan from de-

stroying Goa.

There may be a few black sheep

amongst them; but by and large, so-

cial activists are doing a great job for

Goa. Instead of being armchair and

internet critics, they are there where

the action is sacrificing their time

and money and at times facing gov-

ernment brutality. If our old freedom

fighters can claim the credit for get-

ting us freedom from the Por-

tuguese, our social activists should

be acknowledged for fighting the il-

legalities and atrocities of modern

day Salazars.

Over the years, the number of so-

cial activists has grown; and is not

just an increase in the quantity; the

quality of social activism has also im-

proved greatly. Most of our activists

are young, well read, sincere and

passionate about their cause.

Thanks to the RTI Act and better in-

formation and communication facil-

ities, social activism has percolated

to the grass root levels.

Perhaps Margaret Mead was

right when she wrote, Never doubt

that a small group of thoughtful

committed citizens can change the

world; indeed, it is the only thing

that ever has. Our activists have

certainly succeeded in keeping a

check on the pace of development in

Goa and brought about the neces-

sary corrections in the system as and

when it was required.

Although I am a great disciple of

social activism, I am also a hardcore

supporter of sustainable develop-

ment. As nobody wants to reverse

the clock and go back to the Stone

Age, every human being craves to

have a better lifestyle. Therefore de-

velopment is unstoppable. Besides

creating job opportunities, it is nec-

essary to improve our existing infra-

structure, healthcare needs,

education system and housing facil-

ities.

In my opinion, social activism and

politics are two different names for

the same thing. They are both sup-

posed to work towards the same

goal to create a better world for

everybody. Unfortunately, the word

development is interpreted differ-

ently by our politicians and social ac-

tivists; and as a result, almost every

developmental project that is pro-

posed by the government, is op-

posed by our activists in Goa. In

order to compete with the rest of the

world, we cannot allow this phase of

no development to go on forever.

Just as we cannot allow indiscrim-

inate development to take place in

Goa, we should not allow frequent

social agitations to come in the way

of development in Goa. To achieve

this objective, the bridge of trust be-

tween the local politicians and the

social activists has to be restored ur-

gently. We need politicians who are

sensitive the opinions of the people;

and we need social activists who are

pro-sustainable development in

Goa. I sincerely hope and pray that

there is a change in perception; and

that our politicians and social ac-

tivists will begin to see each other as

trustworthy partners, to bring about

a new kind of development in Goa

sustainable development that is

truly need-based and not greed-

based.

Redefining SocialActivism

FACEBOOK

The Congress in Goais lives in the peren-nial fear that some ofits ministers who goin and out of its partyat will, will ultimatelymove on and formgroups or join otherparties. It lives in thisfear because it neverfelt the need to buildthe party from below.It always took theeasy way out byplucking the fruitsfrom the oldest andthe biggest tree. Itgrabbed what wasavailable. It did notcultivate..

Its a brand new

carnival

Circa 1962. Carnival Day: Its war on the narrow by lanes of

Goa. Missiles of oranges and lemons are being hurled rapid

pace. You duck and run but some till hit you. Boys tease girls,

girls tease boys, everyons dressed up in some costume of the other.

Its like a fancy dress competition, but without any prizes. No one

cares. Its all part of the plot.

Smelly, bruised and with your ego battered, you hit back with

your ammunition sand filled gloves, wooden spoons, brooms and

the battle rages on till the sun sets or until theyve had their fill of

food cooked in festival spirit. The tired warriors then get ready for

feasting and merrymaking, ordained by the King of Chaos King

Momo.

Circa 2011. Carnival Day Its a brand war on the narrow bylanes

of Goa. Tuborg tries to outgulp Kingfisher, Airtel jostles with Voda-

fone to rule the airwaves. Their hoardings and banners were not

just on the floats. They were THE floats. We have a King Momo.

But the carnival of old is no more.

Like all institutions of old, the simplicity of the carnival has gone.

The carnival was in the hearts and homes of people. It was about

the door to door hopping around. It was about the piano being

dusted and played. It was about costumes made and worn.

We have this consistent knack of letting memories and institu-

tions fade. Dont we understand the romance of those sepia or black

and white photos? Dont we understand that charm ensures only

when it is preserved? Dont we understand that the carnival is not

about spending money or making it? The biggest mockery is that

politicians are sponsoring floats, khell tiatrs, and other plays in their

constituencies. From Churchill and his daughter Valanka to

Mickky Pacheco to Vijay Sardesai to Filipe Neri, all have

pumped in money for carnival celebrations.

Since when did the carnival become a vote catching mechanism?

Wasnt this all about agenda-less festivity and togetherness? Wasnt

this about brotherhood and friendship? People who cling to these

simple beliefs like Zito Pinto or the good old Gabru stayed away

from this years carnival parade in Panjim on Saturday.

These are sad times. These are times when revelry has a price

and a purpose. These are times when images such as this dont

come by anymore A couple clinging to the top of a pole on a float

wearing floppy hats and silly grins, a knot of friends dancing with

each other, oblivious to the crowds around them; a steel calypso

band pumping out lyrics; a bloke with a hungry look in his

eyes trying to negotiate his way through the yappity-yap to

find some pretty lass to chat up. All in good spirit.All in good cheer.

The routines will still be followed. The carnival will move on and

parades will be held in the major towns. But its not the same. It

will never be the same. Maybe the villages are still holding out

against the onslaught of brands, perhaps we will look to

Loutolim and Raia or Parra and Moira to retrieve the good old

times.

Maybe, just maybe, there is still hope. Well, if all else fails turn to

the next mobile brand which will be happy to help. What an idea

sirji!

The follower count is rising. People are commenting. The tide

is slowly turning. What is needs now, is more participation.

The facebook page stands open, for the people of Goa to have

a say free and unencumbered. Itd your space to say what you

want, when you want, how you want...

Join up now. Find us on facebook. Be the change you want to

see

Vivek Ferrao

That was a seriously awesome front page story (CCP). Good job.

Keep up the good work guys.

Sean Faia

Its Christmas before CCP Polls - Great front page story. Love the

work you guys are putting in. Panjim needs a change. And the peo-

ple need to stand up and make a difference.

Gustavo Stephen Godinho

I miss those days when all friends use to come together, go around

the village wearing masks n other fancy items, singing n dancing,

splashing water and colour. Those were the days. Today the carnival

is too noisy n vulgar.

Lourenco Fernandes

In 80 the carnival was all fun where young kids would wear masks

and roam around the village. Now people only look forward to the

carnival parades in the major towns.

The party survives at the mercy of village leaders

7 www.oheraldo.in

goa Adults responsible for pushing children intobegging have to be identified and should beseverely dealt with. There needs to be sur-veillance. Police should investigate who areinvolved in the menace.

-- Nishta Desai

We have not received any proposal fromBJP for pre-poll alliance. Any such pro-posal, if it comes, will be discussed withpartys central committee and cadres be-fore taking a final call.

--- Lavu Mamlatdar

Goa I Sunday 6, March 2011

appointmentsappointments

appointments

appointments

HERALD REPORTER

PANJIM, MARCH 5: Even

as the rescue child beggars

mission is underway, NGO

Childrens Rights in Goa

(CRG) has insisted to nail

those adults who reportedly

push children into the beg-

ging business.

CRGs Nishta Desai said,

Adults responsible for push-

ing children into begging have

to be identified and should be

severely dealt with. There

needs to be surveillance. Police

should investigate as to how

children are coming and who

are involved in the menace.

Goa Police in assistance

with NGO Stop Child Abuse

Now (SCAN) are carrying

out raid at tourist hub

Calangute, Anjuna and capi-

tal city of Panjim.

Nearly 41 children have

been rescued in a major

crackdown on the misuse of

children after Goa Commis-

sion for Protection of Child

Rights (GCPCR) issued di-

rections in January.

CRG to nail peoplewho push childreninto begging

HERALD REPORTER

PANJIM, MARCH 5: Maha-

rashtrawadi Gomantak Party

(MGP) leaders on Friday said

that the decision on aligning

with Bharatiya Janata Party

(BJP) for the coming assem-

bly elections would be taken

only after consulting their

party cadres.

We have not received any

proposal from BJP for pre-

poll alliance. Any such pro-

posal, if it comes, will be

discussed with partys central

committee and cadres before

taking a final call, MGPs

General Secretary Lavu

Mamlatdar told reporters.

Meanwhile, MGP claimed

to have finalized candidates for

ten constituencies to contest

forthcoming assembly polls.

Mamlatdar said that the

party has already prepared to

contest in 10 out of 40 con-

stituencies on its own.

Even the candidates are

decided. There are some con-

stituencies which are our

bastion and we are growing

our base there, he said

adding that more candidates

would be finalized in next few

days.

Once the elections are de-

clared, we would finalize on

more constituencies. Enough

time is left for us to think on,

he said.

The elections for 40-mem-

ber Goa legislative assembly

are due in the year 2012.

MGP: Alliance after consulting workers

Dona Paula property scam bigger than Adarsh scamHERALD REPORTER

PANJIM, MARCH 5: A contest-

ing candidate for the upcom-

ing municipal election on

Saturday clarified that he

filed a complaint with differ-

ent authorities regarding a

property scam at Dona Paula.

The property bearing sur-

vey number 249/1-A belongs

to the State and a complaint

with regards to this has been

filed at Panjim police station

and North Goa Collectorate,

Nelson Cabral said.

I have lodged a complaint

to the police because accord-

ing to me the said property

belongs to Army and the

State of Goathe Crime

Branch has filed a closure re-

port in District and Session

Court in respect of my com-

plaint against Joe Mathias

stating that the case is neither

true nor false, he said.

Since another inquiry by

the Collectorate is not being

disclosed and adjournments

sought, Cabral said that he

will move High Court of

Bombay at Goa to direct the

authority to hear the matter

on day to day basis.

Terming the matter worst

than Adarsh Colony scam in

Mumbai, he said that the

land claimed by Joe is said to

belong to the Government

under various land acquisi-

tion proceedings, but files

have gone missing. He

claimed that while others

were arrested with regards to

missing file, Joe had obtained

anticipatory bail order.

CRG to stage

Aami FuluyamPANJIM: Childrens

Rights in Goa (CRG) will

stage a play titled Aami Fu-

luyam on March 7 at Di-

nanath Mangeshakar Kala

Mandir, Kala Academy, Pan-

jim, at 5 pm. Aami Fuluyam

is a Konkani adaptation of

Oscar Wildes The Selfish

Giant.

Desai claimed that during

the drive, few of the children

were school going which was

confirmed by their certificates.

There needs a rehabilitation

home, she further said. All of

the 41 rescued child beggars

are non-Goans hailing from the

states like Rajasthan, Andhra

Pradesh and Karnataka.

These children have been

produced before the Child

Welfare Committee (CWC)

for care and protection till

the completion of enquiry

after which they will be repa-

triated to respective States.

Citing a recent case, SCAN

officials said that no child

should be left unsupervised on

the beach especially after a

person during interrogation in

UK confessed that he had sex-

ually abused a child in Goa.

Rescuing these vulnera-

ble children and rehabilitat-

ing them will empower them

for the future. This would

stop children from being

preyed on by pedophiles who

come here mainly for our in-

nocent children, SCAN co-

ordinator Emidio Pinho said.

I t was a tale of three little factions in Pan-jim in the 50s and 60s. The preparations began in advance, in earnest. Every household would find soft clay-ish mud, wet it, and using paper, mould them into shells and sticks cocotes. Making them was the fun part and some house-holds would start almost two months in advance, heading out to the fields to find soft mud, so as not to hurt anyone. There would be battles be-tween the three factions, Sao Tome, San Sebastian and Campal. And it car-ried on like this for years. Down in Margao too, the residents of Abade Faria road and the surround-ing areas would do the same thing. There would be water, indigo powder, cocotes and music.. This was tradition. This was carnival!

Everyone would dress up in creative regalia, We would all spend money and come up with some-thing to wear. There was never anyone who just came as they were , says Zito Pinto. The proces-sion would start, head-ing from house to house, drenching people as they went along. The proces-sion would usually end at

one of the biggest houses in the neighbourhood, where everyone would sit down for a potluck meal before heading home for a siesta. In the evening, the festivities would start again at the dance on the street.

Today, it seems that the real essence of the carni-val the fun and frolic at-titude has long seeped back into the earth it came from. Gabriel Dsa, says emphatically, The carnival? The carnival is dead. It was spontaneous and creative. But thats long gone now. And if you listen to the stories that some people will narrate, it really has. There is no creativity. This is not the carnival of the people, according to Rene Mendes, who says, There is no involvement from the locals really. It has become so mechanical these days. Earlier it used

to be lively, colourful, and there was so much of lo-cal participation. People had active imaginations when it came to their costumes!

It seems like, for those that saw and celebrated the carnival in its glory days, the fun aspect is long gone. The carnival has now become this commercial Goa promo-tion. Its cheapening the state. says Augusta No-ronha.. The carnival was always about fun. But it was also about communi-ties. It was about letting go of everything else for three days. Soon the dog-eared pictures you see on the page will be the only memories of the real es-sence of carnival. Soon, the memories too will fade into black and white, and all that will be left of it will be a stoic King Momo, perched atop an incandescent float.

weThe carnival has now become this commercial Goa promotion. Its cheapening the state. It used to be about making merry for three days before abstaining for Lent

Augusta Noronha

The reason that many an art is dying is because there isnt a market or anyone to carry on the tradition. Or both! Why dont we empower the artist by giving him or her a platform to earn more money? Amitava Bhattacharya

VILLAGE REPORT

Goa I Sunday March 6, 20118 www.oheraldo.in

T he serenity of Velsao can be misleading to an outsider. The impres-sion springs perhaps from the total lack of in-frastructure development in the village that gives it that laidback look. The lack of internal roads is a major hindrance for both the people and the tiny panchayat whose, the majority at least, panchas are said to be remote con-trolled by the Dabolim MLA Mauvin Godinho

The quietude is broken only by the business of illegal constructions tak-ing shape in Velsao. Some villagers fear that this will take Velsao-Pale-Is-sorcim to a different level of illegal and pillaging constructions done by the rich and the mighty.

Some residents allege that only the rich and well connected have got the benefits of develop-ment. The only road in recent times asphalted in December 2010 was built to accommodate a rich non-Goan who bought from a Goan landlord, and whose intent can only be to build something big, like a hotel, possibly. From there, the road was taken to a dead end at the home of Aldrin Sequeira, whose sister is married to Godinhos PA! says Fatima Furtado Pereira of Primeiro Vaddo.

In fact, in a Right to Information reply to Pe-dro Sebastian Sequeira of Dando-Pale, the pan-chayat said it had not issued any work order to any contractor, but had only passed a resolution

on October 10, 2010 to asphalt the road. Fatima has been pleading for years, to build an ap-proximate 500 metre extension. This extension

would help traffic that had to stop at a nearby manned railway gate, to move around and ease congestion. Often goods trains stop for long peri-

ods. It gets worse then, says Fatima. There is also the government village playground that could easily be accessed by people living on the far side.

What goes for Velsao, goes for tiny Issorcaim-Hollant , ward seven, where villagers fear that the taking over of Grande Islands by the Indian Navy will hit its own small fishing com-munity badly. Hollant isarguably one of Goas only beaches for Goan picnickers on Sundays. Lawrence Rodrigues, panch member says, Hollant desperately needs a public toilet and a sodium mast light. But, the government has said Hollant is not a tourist beach! Hollant was also not included in the gov-

ernments beach clean-ing programme which included nearby Bogmolo beach. A cleaning team could have serviced both as only one village, San-trem, separates the two. Hollants wish list also includes more bus trips. According to Rodrigues there are just four bus arrivals from Vasco da Gama, which creates a transport problem. We have been pleading for years for a 2.5 km road to be built connecting Hol-lant to Dando-Velsao. This would drastically reduce the 13 km long journey between Velsao and Hollant. It seems that the demand for roads in this littlevillages is something that needs attention along with the illegal construction on the coastline.

Herald: You have been in the eye of the storm in Velsao. Can you explain further?Rodrigues: It began when I tried to stop a Mangalore-born NRI, Bendict Saldanha from building huge hotel well within Zone III the no development zone. Now, the governments machinery (through Saldhana) has suddenly begun to claim that my house rebuilt over the ancestral home of my grandfa-ther falls within the 200m line. It is comical when you see on a new survey plan how they have redrew the line marking the start of Zone III which has been officially surveyed once earlier and marked for posterity, to include only my home in it. In 2004 the Goa Coastal Zone Management (GCZM) issued Saldhana a show cause notice, asking him to explain his ac-tions. Finally, , 2006 a team of NPS Varde, Member Secretary, CRZ Authority, the Deputy Collector and the Mamlatdar in-spected the site. They said that the 200m line comes up to the road and hence (the) entire construction is falling under the no development zone of 200m. Please note also that my house which is farther than the road, now suddenly is on the wrong of the No Development ZoneHerald-How did you carry on and what difficulties did you face?Rodrigues: Mr Varde forwarded the case to the Ministry of Environment & Forests (MoEF) which sent a cyptic reply stating that it was of the opinion that the project was an ongoing one and the ministrys earlier clearance would stand. Till this date I am mystified by the term on-going and what it means in this context. In 2009 on the basis of a PIL that I filed with the Bom-bay High Court I succeeded in getting a clear-cut interim order staying the construction.Herald-Have you faced any threats for taking on this builder/hotelier?Rodrigues: They have now filed a suit against me claiming that my house is within the HTL and somehow the Directorate of Settlement and Land Records changed the HTL in Septem-ber 2006 to include my house which is actually approx 280m away. The outline of the NDZ demarcation was mysteriously changed only to harass me. The suit continues till today in the Bombay High Court. Before that I had got the demarcation made by the GCZMA