WHAT SMART CITY PANAJI WORKS!

 THE Imagine Panaji Smart City Development Ltd was constituted as a commission to plan and be responsible for getting all so called smart city work completed in an orderly and efficient manner. The IPSCDL allotted the laying of the sewage network in the city to the Public Works Department and the PWD in turn appointed contractors to undertake this work in a short time, so as to avail of Smart City finances.

Months later Ponjekars see how the works are being carried out in shockingly haphazard manner. Ponjekars or Panjimites during the course of the day for months altogether have been putting up with the flying sand and dirt in the air, the collapsing roads, pavements and water pipes here and there…this kind of unplanned and lacking in intelligence and  common sense public works have taken a massive toll on people’s health. Water pipelines have been damaged with spurting or flowing water rolling away happily for hours on end, even LPG piping has been affected, fibre optical cables and the final the mixing of water and sewage has popped up especially near the St Inez church. Here one may see sewage floating down a main thoroughfare and it has become a health hazard, breeding mosquitoes and attracting all manner of vermin – besides restricting access to St Inez church and business establishments who suffer economically because so many refuse to visit them given the treacherous condition of public streets here.

Just where does the buck stop? Who should be punished for such wanton disorganisation? Some stretches here at St Inez are so abysmal that the  High Court should take suo motto cognisance and order all work completed without any further delay.

Accountability and responsibility has to be apportioned and exemplary punishment meted out to the IPSCDL, PWD and contractors turning the capital city of Panaji into a deadly quagmire even before the pre-monsoon showers arrive…God alone knows what will happen with the monsoon rains arrive with barely a fortnight or so to go now. Even the main DB Marg is at its worst with the gutter system totally sealed with debris and concrete! Don’t these engineers of the CCP and Smart City works know the importance of gutters in a tropical climate like ours? Even the Portuguese and British knew how to let drainage water must have right of way first in any public works!

Today’s robbers are stupid, lacking in common sense or just plain indifferent and they win get all the contracts courtesy Panaji MLA to CCP Mayor and IPSCDL to the PWD, all in it together. Who suffers. Not the honourable government of Goa which is finally both responsible and accountable for this worst ever shoddy state of affairs in capital city Panaji.

Can anybody do anything to salvage the situation before the monsoon arrives?

–Contributed by Stephen Dias, Dona Paula, Panaji

LOCAL LANGUAGE REFLECTED IN EDUCATION SYSTEM!

OUR education system is now giving more importance to the local language, said Governor of Goa PS Sreedharan Pillai, while speaking on the eve of Maharashtra Formation Day and Gujarat Formation Day at the Raj Bhavan, recently. He added that Mahatma Gandhi was always for local languages. In 1956, our parliament passed an amendment and Under Article 350-A every state must provide primary education in the people’s mother tongue.  

The governor also said the contribution made by Shivaji Maharaj for the unity of the country is still in the mind of all Indians. Unity in diversity is the slogan of our country. With this words of observation he extended his greetings on the eve of Maharashtra Formation Day and Gujarat Formation Day which is celebrated on May 1 every year. Present were Anil Patil (president of Maharashtra Mandal), Kajal Shah (president of Panjim Gujarati Mandal), Vinayak Bapat (professor of Goa University), Swapnil Saglani (president, Curchorem Gujarati Mandal) who also spoke on the occasion. MR Rao (IAS, secretary to governor) welcomed the gathering and Gaurish Shankhwalkar (joint-secretary to governor proposed the vote of thanks.

`MANN KI BAAT’ AT RAJ BHAVAN

GOVERNOR of Goa PS Sreedharan Pillai attended the 100th episode of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Mann Ki Baat episode screened at the Raj Bhavan on April 30, 2023. The special program was organized by CEO, Prasar Bharati at New Durbar Hall, Dona Paula. Addressing everyone on the momentous occasion the governor said that the Prime Minister’s Mann Ki Baat is a great achievement of our country. Even earlier such talks have been messaged to the people of a country, say by Nelson Mandela of South Africa. The programs enjoy mass following and are appreciated by the people.

Governor PIllai observed that Mann Ki Baat brings a positive state of mind for the people. It does not criticise anybody. People of our country come together for betterment of India, betterment of the development and slowly we are achieving the goal based on the concepts of Swami Vivekananda “vishwaguru.” Bharat is vishwaguru! Unity of people in India, irrespective of caste, creed or politics, is the hallmark of our country and to take it forward there is Mann Ki Baat which plays a vital role of boosting people’s morale.

And more, Governor Pillai noted that such Mann Ki Baat programs contact, compliment and inspire people and the country moves forward in various fields of development. If we evaluate these 100 episodes of Mann Ki Baat impartially, it is one of the greatest achievement of our mother of democracy. On his arrival the governor was received by Sunil Bhatia (DDG-E), Raviraj Sartape (DD-N, Doordarshan) and Gautam Kumar (dy director, Press Information Bureau, Goa). Others who attended included Padma Awardees from  Goa Vinayak Khedekar,  Bramhanand Shankwalkar and Parampujya Sadguru Brahmeshanand Acharya Swami who were felicitated by the governor with mementoes. Others felicitated were Harilal Menon (vice-chancellor,  Goa University), MRM Rao (IAS, secretary to Governor), Guruprasad Pawaskar (Commissioner, Office of the State Commissioner for Persons with Disabilities), Uday Kamat (program executive, Goa Doordarshan). The event was organized by the Central Bureau of Communication and the accompanying exhibition showcased some of the  prominent themes covered in Mann Ki Baat, as well as various aspects of India’s struggle for Independence. Rupa Chari compered and
Savio Noronha (program executive, Doordarshan) proposed a vote of thanks.

BENGALURU POLLS ON WEDNESDAY

NORMALLYassembly elections are held on Saturday or Sunday. The Election Commission knows from past experience that during the IT boom years a majority of Bengalurians skipped the elections and rushed to Goa for a holiday. So now it has been decided to hold the elections on Wednesday, May 10 so that IT employees will not avoid the elections but turn up to do their duty as citizens and cast their vote.   

IT UNITS UNDER THREAT

IN the event of the development of artificial intelligence, major IT companies are being forced to reduce their staff and stop new recruitment. The problem with artificial intelligence is that it can do the work of 50 engineers if it is properly programed. The increasing use of AI, ChatGPT is expected to seriously impact the IT industry. Already the forecast for the next year of IT companies like Infosys and TCS are much lower. Moreover the companies who employed 10,000 to 20,000 engineers annually have started using their reserve poll. Every IT company had a reserve poll so that if a sudden assignment came up there could be adequate trained staff.

SHARAD PAWAR QUITS NCP

PRESUMABLY, to avoid conflict between the Shiv Sena faction and the BJP, Sharad Pawar had quit the NCP. However, Sharad Pawar has not given up his chairmanship of the UPA. Pawar has quit the NCP to look at the larger issue of Opposition unit.

PRAMOD OFFERS REGRETS!

CHIEF MINISTER Pramod Sawant has gracefully expressed his regrets over attributing all the crimes in Goa to migrant labour. This is because there was a huge protest against his charge that migrant labour is responsible for the majority of the crimes in Goa. Crime record figures show that they are responsible for less than 10% of the crimes taking place in the state! Goans, please take note.