CASTE AWAY

CASTE AWAY

Herald Review June 22, 2014  

Goa University bypasses rules to give reserved category teaching posts to non- Goans even though there were qualified local applicants, inviting criticism of caste discrimination

LISA ANN MONTEIRO

A s if those from ST (scheduled tribes), SC (scheduled castes) and OBC ( other backward castes) communities haven’t struggled enough, Goa University ( GU) has recently exacerbated the situation by permanently denying them teaching posts in the reserved category. Those from the reserved category from outside Goa have instead been offered these posts on regular basis, in what seems to be a completely unjustifiable decision.

As far as universities are concerned, recruitment is national except for reserved categories as these categories are defined locally, with the percentage of reservation also set locally. Qualification doesn’t ensure the reserved candidates are recruited, but other candidates cannot be interviewed before those eligible are declared as ‘ unsuitable’ for the post.

Pending a suitable candidate the university re- advertises the post where anyone can apply in the general category and can be offered a post only for one year on temporary/ contract basis. In no case can the candidate appointed in the general category have any legal right or claim on the post the next year.

In the University Grants Commission rules, under ‘ Procedure to be followed in matters of reservation for teaching as well as non- teaching staff,’ the rules state, “ 8a i) SC/ ST candidates should be interviewed separately. ii) One member of the Interview Committee shall belong to the SC/ ST category.” Rule 9 vi) states, “ In case no eligible reserved candidates are available, the vacant seats in the reserved quota shall not be filled by any non SC/ ST candidates. Every effort shall be made to re- advertise for wider publicity in the leading national newspapers.” The Goa University has first blundered in allowing reserved candidates from outside the state to appear for interviews alongside reserved candidates from Goa.

One candidate applied for the post of Professor of Management Studies in the reserved category. Although qualified for the post, a candidate from Tamil Nadu was given an offer of appointment on regular basis with protection of salary.

The aggrieved candidate sent a letter to GU Vice Chancellor Dr Satish Shetye and Chairman of the University on June 14 and hasn’t received any reply yet. His letter states that one Palanisamy Saravanan was given the offer of appointment to the post of Professor in Management studies.

There was also no representative of his community on the selection panel.

It further states that the screening committee had clearly passed a remark saying the candidate Saravan was not eligible under the reserved category of Goa.

Another qualified candidate from the reserved category is utterly disappointed with the university. “ If we’re not getting jobs in the reserved quota we will never get them in the general quota. This is injustice. The post is reserved for Goans. Each state has its own quota. In spite of working hard there is nothing for us. Even reserved posts are being taken away from us. How much injustice do we have to face? It was a big shock for us and we cannot express our distress.” Irregularities in appointments have also been found in the department of botany, sociology and economics.

Once local candidates protested, it was rumoured that two letters of appointment were kept in abeyance.

Goa University’s many committees in their quest for excellence failed to stop the injustice and insensitivity to the community. The candidates went through the screening committee, selection committee, executive council and letters of appointment were even signed by the university’s Chancellor, Governor Bharat Vir Wanchoo.

Some educationists find this very upsetting. No other state would have dared to do this they say. “ The entire purpose of reservations is lost. This is a Constitutional scandal and reflects the quality of decisions. Excellence is not everything. The university doesn’t require the best in the world. This is not a legal slip up. Everyone knows the rules, it is not rocket science. This happened because of lack of social sensibility and lack of academic vision for these people. It amounts to caste discrimination in the most serious form. The University shouldn’t say they will correct it the next time. This will add insult to injury. The candidates shouldn’t suffer for their ( GU’s) bungling. They need to find out where the process was flawed.

On September 17, 2013 GU advertised for 72 vacant posts of professor, associate professor and assistant professor in various departments of which 39 were in the unreserved category, 17 posts reserved for those from the OBC, eight from the ST and 1 from the SC. The first of the ‘ General Instructions’ in the advertisement states that ‘ The University reserves the right to appoint the candidate from the general category purely on contract basis in case if suitable candidate is not available from the reserved categories.’

The vacant teaching positions advertised were in the departments of English, Hindi, Marathi, Konkani, Portuguese, French, Economics, Political Science, Sociology, History, Philosophy, Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, Earth Science, Computer Science and Tech, Botany, Zoology, Marine Science, Biotechnology, Microbiology, Commerce and Management Studies. The last date to receive applications was October 31, 2013 and interviews were conducted towards the end of the academic year.

The matter was discussed at the executive council meet on Friday and the Registrar Vijayendra Kamat said the appointments would be kept on hold until an inquiry into the matter was complete. Review Bureau 

No place for pilgrims

No place for pilgrims

Herald Review June 22, 2014 

While the government splurges on yet another Euro tour to sell the Exposition abroad, pilgrims who make the 220 km journey on foot to Old Goa— they’ve been doing this for over 30 years— have no place to stay in

LISA ANN MONTEIRO  

The government is at it again. This time it is the tourism department that is digging into state coffers for their Euro trip next month. The delegation is expected to visit various countries in Europe starting with Spain with the intention of attracting pilgrims to the decennial Exposition of the relics of St Francis Xavier. The trip is expected to cost Rs 4 crore and it is not clear who will be going.

Meanwhile on the ground the government has been doing precious little for pilgrims flocking to Old Goa every year during the novenas and feast on December 3. Their role has been restricted to providing traffic police and mobile toilets.

In other states, the government builds dharamshalas near shrines for pilgrims. The Goa government has been less sensitive on this front. Each year since 1980, Goans settled in the neighbouring districts of Ratnagiri, Kolhapur, Belgaum and Karwar who fled Goa in the 16th century have been making the 220 km journey by foot to Old Goa for the Feast.

Advocate Bernard D’Souza from Margao has been very active on this front, requesting the Church to provide land to build a pilgrim house. The pilgrims would earlier stay in the compound of the Holy Family Sisters and would have no place to freshen up. “They had no facility to wash, refresh and change after reaching and after holy services. Many would take shelter under trees where they have refreshments, rest and return to their villages.”

Outstation Goans then constituted the St Francis Xavier Pilgrims Welfare Trust on June 22, 2010 with Advocate D’Souza at the forefront to provide shelter and services for the pilgrims. The trust requested the Church for land where they could build a pilgrim house.

The Church told them they had funds but no land. D’Souza secured necessary revenue records comprising survey Plans and Form I & IV and requested the Church to allow them to build a permanent pilgrim house. The Church declined.

But the trust for the first time in December 2010 managed to erect a pandal over 2000 sq metres much to the relief of pilgrims.

Over the years the pandal has been provided with necessary facilities of light and fans. Water was made available for washing. Drinking water was arranged. The toilets of the panchayat which were not in use got cleared and cleaned and were made available for the pilgrims.

The trust says there is need for a permanent building where devotees from the lower and middle class visiting not only during novenas and the Feast but throughout the year can stay in.

When the pilgrims began in 1980 they walked for eleven days both ways.

Then when government employees also wanted to join the group they couldn’t get leave for eleven days and requested the group to cut down the number of days. For six years the group walked both ways. When they began walking for five days one way, a large number of people began joining the group.

They begin walking on November 28 and arrive on December 2. They have a thanksgiving mass at 12: 30 pm and have a singing procession to the Basilica.

On December 4 they have a thanksgiving mass in the morning and then leave back to their state.

The numbers range from 800 to 1000 each year and this year they are only expected to double. Fr Santaji Lobo from Kolhapur joined the group in 1981 and has been making the trip to Old Goa each year. The group has two rules he says– they will not accept lifts from anyone along the way, and they will abstain from smoking and drinking for the period.

The Church has told the trust that the pilgrims can stay in the new retreat centre which is being restored at Old Goa. Adv D’Souza says this is not feasible as it is more than 2 km away from the Basilica. “ After walking for 300 km you can’t expect the pilgrims to walk all the way up the hill and back down every time for services. It is not practical. A retreat centre is a peaceful place. Here the pilgrims want to mingle with each other. Even the tourist hostel in Old Goa charges nothing less than Rs 1500 per night. We want a permanent building for those devoted pilgrims who cannot afford to pay so much.”

Fr Alfred Vaz, convenor of the Exposition Committee of the Scared Relics of St Francis Xavier, says the Archaeological Survey of India ( ASI) visited the churches with their engineers and are presently conducting repair and restoration works in the Cathedral and the Basilica. The government committee for the Exposition, he says, has not been set up yet, and they have not been told when it will be constituted and who the commissioner will be. Until then they’re doing their part.

“To decongest the roads we proposed another road for those coming from South Goa. It was already approved during the Portuguese time but there are some encroachments now. We have also requested for that the government change the IFFI dates as these clash with the days of the Exposition.” The Exposition will be held from November 22 till January 4 and the film festival will take place from November 20 till November 30.

The government is yet to sit down with the Church committee and discuss ground realities for the Exposition— all this while they are set to head for Europe to “ sell” the religious event to bring in more tourists. The 2004 Exposition brought around 30 lakh pilgrims.

This year the Church is expecting another 20 lakh. Tourism Minister Dilip Parulekar says he expects to attract another 50,000 from his foreign tour.

Fr Vaz when asked what he feels about the government promoting the religious event for the sake of tourism said, “We’re preparing people for the spiritual encounter. For us it is a spiritual journey. If the government wants to look at this event for tourism, they can.” Review Bureau  

Filmmaker brothers take off with Tamaash

Filmmaker brothers take off with ‘ Tamaash’  

Herald Review June 8, 2014


Satyanshu Singh on his directorial debut with the short film, ‘ Tamaash’, and why he dislikes a film with a child protagonist being classified as a ‘ children’s film'. 



LISA ANN MONTEIRO 


Satyanshu and Devanshu Singh’s directorial debut Tamaash (Puppet) has recently been winning numerous awards at film festivals around the world. The short film set in Kashmir tells the story of nine year old Anzar who is rebuked by his father and teacher for performing poorly in school.

His elders ask him why he can’t be more like Sadat, his straight- As classmate.

Anzar is running out of time. He has only two days till his exam to prove his worth to his elders. Things seem easy at first when a mysterious man offers to help him score more marks than Sadat. Soon Anzar realizes what he was doing wrong and does everything within his capacity to set it right.

The story is beautifully told and the child actors couldn’t have played their parts better. The directors, who are also brothers, admit it was the stories of Ruskin Bond and the cinema of Iran especially Iranian director Abbas Kiarostami’s Where’s the Friend’s Home that was their core inspiration Theirs is a story of collaboration. Devanshu wrote a story about a kid who is unfairly compared with the topper in his batch, while Satyanshu brought in the magical element of the puppet to the film, turning it into a fable and adding elements of mystery and surrealism.

“ It was then that we really felt excited about making this film. And of course if the film is set in Kashmir, uses Kashmiri actors, we had to have Kashmiri dialogue and songs because the aural milieu of a film is as important as the visual one. We have a fascination for different languages, especially the way each language sounds. It was a delight to realize that our first film would be in a language that we don’t know. Soon we fell in love with the sound of the Kashmiri language,” Satyanshu told Herald Review.

The directors say working with Kashmiri children was a wonderful experience.

The key, they say, is to cast correctly.

They were looking for talented kids who were also intelligent and had good attention spans. “ Burhan who played the little Mufid had never acted before, but he is incredibly talented and was perhaps one of the most intelligent people on the set. He could cry on cue and understood the right notes during the film. After casting them, Devanshu spent time with them, conducting workshops, and more importantly, developing a strong bond.” The most touching part of the entire filmmaking experience was the way the children bonded with the directors.

With them around, they say, they laughed more often than they would otherwise.

Shooting in Kashmir, far away from where they live, was made relatively easier for the directors because of a friend, Omar, who managed everything there for them. They shot in Badgham district in areas known as Mujhpatri and Dudhpatri.

Satyanshu says he wouldn’t advise anyone to shoot in a state they’re not familiar with, unless they have good support from locals. Dozens of Kashmiris helped them without expecting anything in return. They had people who volunteered to sleep in their kitchen because they were shooting in their bed- room. “ It is as if all of them wanted us to do a great job.” Because of their limited crew, Devanshu had to double up as the production and costume designer while he planned the daily shoots, took continuity notes, kept track of time and took care of basic production supervision.

Apart from all of this, they had to extract performances from the actors who spoke in a language they didn’t understand. The increasing cold temperatures pushed up costs, and they ended spending more than twice their initial budget.

The filmmaker brothers, originally from Bihar, studied Hindustani classical music as children and began writing and directing plays during their school days. Satyanshu wrote poems and stories for Uddan and lyrics for the song ‘ Life yeh Mausambi- si’ in Ferrari Ki Sawaari.

The directors don’t appreciate their film being categorized as a children’s film. “ All audiences react to this film in the same way— whether they are kids or adults. All of us, whether we are kids or adults, love children. It is so easy to make the audience fall in love with a child character because that character can entertain you, make you laugh, move you and make you cry like no grown- up character can. In my opinion films with children should be the safest bets when it comes to the commerce of cinema,” Satyanshu says.

Unfortunately, we have not been able to understand that, which is why we have preconceived notions about the market and about classifying films into artificial categories, he believes.

“ A children’s movie doesn’t have a good chance at the box office not because it is a children’s film but because it is generally another independent film without any star and it struggles like all such films. We all know that when backed by big names and stars and studios, children’s films have been immensely successful,” he points out.

Films, he says, should be classified if need be into only two categories: " good films" and " not so good films", and this too should be subjective from one audience to another. Review Bureau 

Bold & beautiful but in breach of rules

Bold & beautiful but in breach of rules

Herald Review June 8, 2014

Bollywood wives Sussanne Roshan and Gauri Khan’s Siridao project, Naira that is targeting the super rich with its super luxury bespoke villas runs foul of Goa environment laws and has been served a show cause notice by the office of Collector, North Goa

LISA ANN MONTEIRO

Acting on a complaint of hill cutting in Firguem, Siridao, the flying squad team last week issued Emgee Properties a Show Cause Notice. The notice states that in pursuance to the Order No 4- 5 Flying Squad / RB/ dated 21/ 05/ 2010 of the Collector and District Magistrate of North Goa, the flying squad visited the site on 22/ 05/ 2014 at 12: 40pm. They observed that hill cutting was done for a length of 25 metres, breadth of 4 metres and to the height of 2.5 metres ( approx) at Survey No 43/ 1 at Siridao in Tiswadi.

The notice states that it could not be a s c e r t a ine d whether the party had valid permissions issued by competent authorities, or title documents, licenses etc. The notice issued by the Additional Collector North Goa District Swapnil Naik directed the party to stop the ongoing work immediately upon receipt of the show cause notice and to show cause within five days from the receipt of the notice and to explain as to why the matter should not be referred to the concerned Town and Country Planning department for restoration of the said land. The PI Agacaim Police Station was also directed to get the order executed within 24 hours.

Emgee’s project ‘ Naira’ in Siridao was launched by Bollywood wives Sussanne Roshan and Gauri Khan in March in Dubai at socialite Rekha Tourani’s Emirates Hills residence.

Roshan also promoted the Siridao “ uber luxury, super exclusive villa project” in Ludhiana last month.

The project spread over 67,000 sq feet promises 12 bespoke ( custom- made) fully furnished villas each with a spectacular sea view.

Each villa will be on a 500 sq mt plot with a central courtyard, vertical gardens— to keep each villa private from the next one— a lounge on the second level and an infinity pool with bar deck among other amenities.

“ Each of these 12 villas is much more than a home. Conceptualised, curated and executed with a signature archi tectural style and uber a t t i t u d e … A throwback to the 60s and 70s era of chic style and pop statements.

Naira comprises three types of homes each with its distinct personality— the Traveller, The Player and the Dreamer,” its website states.

Naira promoters say the property is 120 mt from the sea on hilly terrain, with the sea in the front and forest behind. With all amenities provided including cutlery and crockery, all the owner has to do is to walk in with his/ her suitcase, the developers promise. Each villa being custom built will have a different price tag. But reports say each unit will cost nothing less than Rs 10 crore. The project is expected to be complete in 2016.

Addl Collector Swapnil Naik told Herald Review that the matter is before the TCP which has to verify whether it is hill cutting for the purpose of levelling the ground, or for a basement. Review Bureau

Racially biased, says CBI

Racially biased, says CBI

UK judge refuses to extradite paedophile convicted in Goa case 

Herald Review June 8, 2014 

After 18 years of an international hunt to nail him for sexually abusing children in Goa in the notorious Freddy Peats case, paedophile Raymond Varley could walk away free all because a British judge thinks it would be “oppressive” to have him return to India for trial

LISA ANN MONTEIRO

Last month UK national Raymond Varley, 66, convicted for sexually abusing children in Goa and wanted for 16 years won his battle against extradition to India.

Raymond Varley, a teacher from Halifix, was accused of visiting Goa repeatedly during the 1980s and early 1990s to abuse children in an orphanage in Fatorda which housed over 150 boys and girls. The orphanage was run by convicted paedophile, the now deceased Freddie Peats.

The UK District Judge Quentin Purdy said Varley couldn’t be extradited because he was a “vulnerable individual” and should not be extradited due to dementia.

This was based on a report by Varley’s neuropsychologist that it was “unjust” and “oppressive” to return him to India for trial.

In his statement Varley said, “Should I be sent to India I would have no alternative but to commit suicide. There would be no point to live in such disgusting and inhuman conditions as I would face in custody, as well as daily ill- treatment.” Lawyers representing Varley argued that extraditing him to India would amount to breach of his human rights.

Peats, an Anglo German who posed as a social worker began his activities in Colva and moved to Fatorda in the mid 1980s where he ran Gurukul Orphamily, home to over 150 boys and girls.

With his snowy white beard and hair, some even saw the notorious Peats as a do- gooder Santa Claus, and unsuspecting parents, mostly underprivileged, willingly sent their children to him for two decades believing in his benevolence. The children were sexually and sadistically abused and tortured. Majority of these were poor orphans and street children.

In April 1991 the police acting on the complaint of a little boy, raided Peats’ residence and unearthed an international paedophile network that had been running for more than two decades. Over 2305 photographs of minor boys engaged in sexual activity with elderly white men, 135 strips of negative film, syringes and narcotics were found. One of the photographs showed a six year old boy blindfolded and strapped to the wall with drugs being injected into his testicles.

The police found that Peats along with his associates were supplying children to paedophiles around the world.

Peats was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment in 1996 and died in prison at the age of 81 in 2005.

The children identified one of the abusers as ‘Raymond from Thailand’. There are allegations against Varley of abusing two boys aged five and seven who he photographed in the nude.

Varley was chargesheeted in 1996 along with other associates of Peats— Werner Ingo of Australia, EC McBride of New Zealand, Nils Johnson of Sweden.

Authorities never caught up with Varley who moved from Thailand, Slovenia, Mexico and Britain. He previously served time in prison until the mid 1980s and was given treatment to deal with his sexual offences. He claimed to be a changed man and said he left the country because of the public reaction to his crimes. He changed his name by deed poll to Martin Ashley.

He was in Thailand for 12 years and was deported in February 2012 for overstaying. Records by the CBI reveal he visited Goa in 1994 while Peats was under trial. His associates also visited the state till 1995.

The CBI has sent a special team to London to assist the Crown Prosecution Service who is fighting their case with the cooperation of the Indian High Commission.

“They ( Crown Prosecution Service) have appealed on our behalf. We’re not directly doing it. There are rules. Varley got himself examined by his own medical expert. We contested this but the court upheld it. The court didn’t request for an independent psychiatric assessment so we have to respect this. We requested to get him examined by the Medical Board in India but they refused.

This is not the first time that someone from the West has appealed that their human rights will be violated if they are extradited. There is a racial element in the case. We are strongly committed to this case but we have to follow the procedure of law. We cannot airlift him and bring him here. If they don’t agree to extradite him, they will not take him into custody. He will walk away a free man,” Kanchan Prasad spokesperson for the CBI told Herald Review.

Peats’ other associate New Zealander EC McBride was convicted of criminal conspiracy, kidnapping, sodomy and selling minors for prostitution and locked up for seven years in 2002.

Werner Wulf Ingo of Australia was jailed for ten years in 2007. Review Bureau

From hunger to success

From hunger to success

Herald Review March, 30, 2014   

Hunger pangs drove his desire to succeed. What Sarathbabu Elumalai didn’t have in terms of financial resources, he made up for with his dedication and perseverance to excel academically. LISA ANN MONTEIRO delves into his inspiring rags to riches story

Sarathbabu Elumalai has always found inspiration in his mother. After her husband left the house, Deepa Ramani found herself with five children to fend for. Juggling three jobs, she sold idlis in the mornings, worked for the mid- day meal scheme at a school during the day and taught at the adult education programme of the government, earning a meager amount each day. She tried her best to make sure her family didn’t go hungry. The sacrifices she made for her children left a deep impression on Sarath when he was a young boy. The one sight that moved him was that of his mother drinking water to overcome her hunger. He was determined not to let her efforts go in vain. He was going to make her proud and put a roof over her head one day.

Sarath decided that for this to happen, he would have to focus wholeheartedly on his studies in which he invariably topped his class. Before school hours, he would help his mother by selling idlis to other families in the slum area of Madipakkam in Chennai where they lived. With no electricity, he used the nearby street light to study at night.

After the tenth standard he worked on book binding to help pay the fees for the eleventh and twelfth level. When it came to the crucial twelfth standard, his not possessing an alarm clock led him to an ingenious way of waking up to study. He refused the mat and bedsheet and chose to sleep shirtless on the bare floor. When temperatures dropped at midnight, the floor would become unbearably cold, compelling him to wake up and take to his books till 7.30 am. Such was his determination.

“ The only way I could prove myself was through my studies. I couldn’t get recognition in any other way. I couldn’t show off my uniform as it was always torn. I couldn’t take fresh food to class as it was always the previous day’s food. I would open my tiffin box and when I found that the food was spoilt, I would tell myself that I wasn’t hungry that day. The only way I could get recognition was by topping the class. I felt that if I didn’t do that, I would be worthless.

For food and a tidy uniform I depended on my mother but to get good marks I realized that I didn’t have to depend on anyone, not even my teacher, but my textbooks.” He knew little about the Birla Institute of Technology and Science in Goa. His friend told him he could surely get in considering his high grades and, more importantly, he would be assured of a job after the course. To pay the high fees, his sister pawned her jewellery and his mother found him a government scholarship. This covered only his tuition fees and to cope with the hostel and food expenses he borrowed money at high rates of interest.

It was the first time that he had travelled so far from home. He missed his mother’s emotional support.

Surrounded by upper and upper middle class students who spoke in English about John Grisham and Angelina Jolie, he was lost at first but soon made friends.

He took up a job with Polaris Software Labs after his chemical engineering degree and was able to clear off his loans. He heard about the IIMs being the best management institutes in the country and decided he was going to study there. He answered CAT, scoring a whopping 98.45 per cent in the third attempt and got calls from all six IIMs. It was his moment of elation. He opted for IIM Ahmedabad where he says he put in around 20 hours of study each day.

His priorities however were different from the other management students.

He says, “ With about 30 per cent of the population below the poverty line in India, I thought to myself, these people are in the same situation as my mother. They too have experienced hunger. What’s the use of my education if it’s only going to help one person? It would be selfish of me. My mother’s sacrifice shouldn’t help only me, it should help more people.” So he turned down lucrative offers to join MNCs where the salary offered to him was between Rs 8 lakh and Rs 16 lakh. Instead, he told his mother he wanted to start his own food catering enterprise through which he could could employ as many people as possible. She gave him her blessings and there was no looking back since then. Sarath today is the CEO of Food King which has five branches in the country. It offers employment to a number of illiterate and semiliterate people.

He is also working for a hunger free India through his Hunger Free India Foundation which has fixed October 10th as a hunger free day in the country. Under this initiative he is also working on a more recent project to build 100 toilets for poor government schools in his State.

Sarath has also nurtured political ambitions. In 2009 and 2011 he contested the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections as an independent candidate where he garnered five per cent of the votes, the next largest number after the two big political parties in the State-- the AIADMK and the DMK. He chose to skip the 2014 election, dedicating himself instead to doing more ground work for the elections to follow.

In 2012, Sarath was one of three young entrepreneurs invited from across the world for the World Bank’s Global Youth Conference in Washington DC where he was honoured for his entrepreneurship and leadership skills. Ask him whether it was his intelligence or his determination that contributed to his success and he says it is neither of the two. The secret of his success, he says, is his mother’s sacrifice. “ It is her sacrifice that gave me a platform to explore my intelligence and put in all those hours of hard work. We didn’t have enough to eat. I was a scrawny little kid. It is only after my engineering degree when I began working was I able to provide a better life for her.” His has already fulfilled one of his dreams – of providing a roof over his mother’s head. He has even bought her a car. His other dream is to become an Education Minister to ensure good quality education in government schools in the country. Review Bureau

'Important to jog public memory about Gujarat 2002'

               

'Important to jog public memory about Gujarat 2002’

Herald Review March 30, 2014           

Award winning documentary film maker Rakesh Sharma documented Gujarat post the 2002 riots in his film Final Solution . With the 2014 elections around the corner, he recently uploaded videos among which are old speeches of the BJP’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi that had disappeared from online repositories. Sharma who has made Goa his home tells LISA ANN MONTEIRO

Why did you feel the need to upload these videos recently?

I made and released the film in 2004, ten years ago. During this period, we have seen almost an entire generation come of age. The 2014 polls have a few million new voters. I felt it was important to recount this bit of our contemporary history for them and those afflicted with apathy or amnesia.

The 2002 carnage ranks among the very worst episodes of violence in this country, especially as it was state- supported.

Ex- minister Maya Kodnani is convicted, now in jail serving a longterm sentence in the Naroda Patiya massacre case. Several other ministers from the erstwhile Modi government as well as senior VHP and Bajrang Dal functionaries are under the scanner for their specific roles.

Mr Modi has the moral responsibility, if not a legal one too, especially since he has kept the home ministry with him since 2002. He certainly failed in performing his constitutional obligations to protect the life, liberty and property of all the citizens of Gujarat, an oath he took upon assuming office.

Do you feel Narendra Modi's PR machinery has been successful in the makeover of his image?

Mr Modi’s PR makeover began sometime after the 2007 polls, in the form of publicity blitzkriegs around the Vibrant Gujarat summits ( which incidentally have resulted in lower actual investment compared to several other states like Maharashtra). A major component of the makeover was the Tata Nano project, which accorded Mr Modi serious legitimacy. But, it was the state exchequer and the Gujarati citizens who paid for it – the Tatas got nearly Rs 10,000 crores at an interest rate of 0.1 per cent! This in a state where farmers commit suicides unable to pay loans of Rs 70,000.

Over the years, largesse for many from corporate India followed – no wonder the Modi- for- PM chorus started from among them. From being a prosperous, surplus state, Gujarat has now become a debt- ridden state. Each Gujarati now has a debt burden of over Rs 26,000. Among the conditions relaxed for the Nano project was employment of locals as well as some tax concessions etc. The question to ask is: so who benefitted? No wonder the BJP, despite a resounding victory in the Gujarat 2012 polls, lost in this specific constituency – Sanand.

Gujarat is being projected as a model state for development. What are the ground realities?

He is projected as a development messiah of some kind, which itself is far from the truth. Gujarat fares rather poorly on several social indicators like child malnutrition, crimes against women and suchlike. The state of primary education and healthcare is abysmal. Many parts of Saurashtra and Kutch still crave for the promised Narmada waters, which have been diverted instead for the Sabarmati, as a part of the Ahmedabad beautification project.

On the other hand, Gujarat has always been a state with a keen eye on infrastructure, primarily as its economy has always been driven by the Gujarati entrepreneur.

So, the highways and roads connecting major cities and hubs have always been relatively better, even if you go back to the 70s and 80s.

Mr Modi is fortunate that Gujarat has been a single party state for nearly 20 years. The Congress, in steady decline earlier, has been in a terminal stage since the last decade. In the absence of any serious or credible opposition, Mr Modi has found it easy to win the state elections three times.

Do you believe Narendra Modi is a changed person ?

Far from it. Mr Modi since 2002 has never once accepted even an iota of responsibility for the mass murder and mayhem that took place under his watch. Of late, he has spoken about being ‘ pained’, but has he ever reached out to the victims? The state has not provided any significant relief and rehabilitation to the Muslim victims. Even the S- 6 karsevak families were rapidly forgotten after the 2002 polls – many of them feel cynically used and exploited ( as you can see in the excerpts uploaded on my youtube channel).

The Congress, equally culpable in the 1984 Sikh massacres, has officially apologized, through Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s formal statements in Parliament and outside. Mr Modi, however, is yet to do so.

But, apologies notwithstanding, both for 1984 and 2002, the guilty must be brought to book and the cause of justice be fully served. Fortunately, in Gujarat, the Supreme Court intervened, creating judicial history by first shifting trials outside the state, and later by directly monitoring several major cases directly.

But he has been given a ‘ clean chit’ by the Supreme Court.

The Supreme Court appointed SIT did not find a legal ground to prosecute Mr Modi, but the SC- appointed amicus curiae Ramachandran recommended his prosecution. An Ahmedabad Magistrate has upheld the SIT report, but the case is now in High Court. It will eventually be heard in the Supreme Court, which has on its record its own amicus’ report too. Former Chief Justice VN Khare has opined that Mr Modi is culpable and liable to be prosecuted.

Some of the witnesses to the 2002 riots were sadly young innocent children who speak of the torture meted out to their family members as shown in your video.

Most of the children I filmed with were those I met accidentally, while shooting something else. These were spontaneous conversations. In any case, I think it is hardly possible for a 4- 5 year old child to be cunning, crafty and deceitful about a trauma he or she has been a direct witness to.

Rakesh Sharma’s videos can be seen at: https:/ www. youtube. com/ user/ rakeshfilms

Chandor challenge to Fomento project

Chandor challenge to Fomento project

Herald April 13, 2014  

Sociedade de Fomento's plans to set up an iron ore handling terminal in Chandor run into a storm in the village

LISA ANN MONTEIRO

Last month, a general body meeting of the shareholders of the Comunidade of Chandor unanimously rejected a proposal from the major mining firm, Fomento, to set up a terminal for handling iron ore and other bulk materials in the village.

Fomento had asked for 96,000 sq mt of khazan land on three years lease from the Comunidade to “ complete feasibility studies and surveys” for the project.

In its letter of November 18, 2011 to the Comunidade, the mining company had said: “ We are contemplating an innovative and state of the art project in the form of a terminal for handling bulk materials. We need to conduct a technical feasibility study to be followed by economic feasibility and environmental assessment. It is only if the results of the study are positive that we may decide to go further with the same.”

But since the mining company wasn’t forthcoming about the nature of the terminal, the Comunidades shareholders became wary about the project. The shareholders and villagers from as far as Guirdolim who gathered for the meeting voiced their concerns about the consequences the project would have on the ecology of their village especially since the land on the banks of the river being asked for is in the vicinity of Timukh, a confluence of Zuari and Kushawati rivers.

Cutting down mangroves along the bank of the river would lead to soil erosion, villagers felt. Those at the meeting also questioned the validity of feasibility studies conducted by the company itself and not an independent body.

“ A feasibility study by the company will obviously be given in its favour. There is already so much silt in the rivers. I’ve seen the barges washing the silt into the rivers. This project will surely destroy the ecology of our village and its river. There are also traditional fishermen and toddy tappers who will be badly affected by the project. The company speaks of a state of the art conveyor belt and pipeline. But we don’t know whether they want to dump coal here,” Neil Carvalho, a shareholder says.

Luel Fernandes, attorney of Chandor Comunidade says the members of the body are apprehensive about giving land on lease because there is poor enforcement of law in the state.

“ There was no control by the previous government over mining activities.

Once we give this land there is no question of getting it back. The legal system is full of loopholes and the mining owner has money at his disposal.”

Fernandes in a report stated that the survey numbers being asked for “ consist of land distributed in perpetuity as zond strips to various individuals entitled to claim zond . So therefore no private individual has the right to claim possession of any short/ long term lease of these lands for any purpose”.

His report further states that the site “ remains of immense interest to the archaeological Survey of India. Dr SR Rao of Dwarka Temple discovery fame had done a preliminary survey and the matter still remains a matter of great archeological interest. Besides Chandor is a site that has been discussed at Unesco conferences in Paris and London. It would be completely destructive to the site if the land is leased for this type of activity as proposed by M/ s Sociedade de Fomento Industrial Pvt Ltd”.

Although the shareholders passed a unanimous resolution, there were dissenting voices, among them Gandhi Henriques, president of the Comunidade who argues the project could bring in revenue for the local body starved of funds.

“ The ten plots being asked for are just marshy lands. I had a vision for the Comunidade where this project could bring in some money. If we lease out the land to Fomento for three years, the feasibility reports would at least tell us the potential value of our land. It’s a state of the art project.”

When he tried to bring this up at the general body meeting his voice was drowned in the opposition from a large number of concerned villagers.

The concern over not getting the land back after three years is not a legitimate one, Gandhi claims. “ It’s not true that our land will be grabbed. The question of them not giving us the land back after three years just doesn’t arise. Somewhere one has to have trust. It doesn’t make sense just fearing things that may not happen.”

But others like Carvalho don’t believe this. He says the Comunidade will be in a fix if the company decides after three years to claim benefits under the Tenancy Act, especially considering the Comunidade doesn’t have revenue to fight the mining giant.

This newspaper got in touch with several officials of the Fomento group, including its chairman Auduth Timblo, who declined to give a comment on record.

Fomento, Goa’s second largest exporter of iron ore after Sesa Goa, was taken to the court by villagers of Xelvon near Curchorem where they had plans of setting up a river- side rail terminal project also known as the ‘ merry go round project’.

Carvalho says the residents here are prepared to go to any lengths to retain the village status of Chandor. Review Bureau

A hurried ACT

A hurried ACT

Herald Review April 13, 2014

The government's move to quietly apply the Special Marriage Act 1954 to Goa, the only State in the country which is governed by the uniform civil code, has naturally raised suspicions over its real intent. The attempt has drawn widespread criticism.

LISA ANN MONTEIRO

On January 17 this year, the Manohar Parrikar government issued an extraordinary gazette notification that went largely unnoticed, because the law it intends to enforce was not discussed in government, in the State assembly or in any public fora. The notification seeks to apply the Special Marriage Act 1954 to Goa which is already governed by the Uniform Civil Code.

Legal experts have slammed the move as irrational, uncalled for and maleficent.

Trying to enforce the Special Marriage act when the Uniform Civil Code already exists in the State is seen as a retrograde move by most lawyers this newspaper spoke to. They said it also goes against Article 44 of the directive principles in the Constitution that seeks to implement a uniform civil code throughout the country. Goa has a head start with the uniform code in operation in the State, and most advocates cannot see any logical reasoning in trying to bring the Special Marriage Act into force here. Others believe the motive is to “ please” friends, but who these are and how exactly, none can say.

Ironically on January 1 this year the much appreciated Portuguese Civil Registrations Code ( Codigo do Registo Civil) completed a century.

It was made applicable to Goa on January 1, 1914. The code is recognized as a superb piece of legislative drafting and forms an intrinsic procedural part of the uniform civil personal laws governing Goans that was continued by the Government of India after Liberation.

The law which deals with registration of births and marriages makes registration mandatory and only such registered facts are admissible as proof. Birth and marriage registrations were declared as the juridical foundation base to determine juridical stats and hence the identity of the Goans. Under the Special Marriage Act registration of one’s marriage is not mandatory.

The Goa Marriage Code has been appreciated by Indian jurists on the background of article 44. The former chief justice of India was also impressed with the code. Therefore the real reason for bringing the Special Marriage Act to the state is bewildering, say lawyers.

A major bone that the legal fraternity have to pick with the State government’s notification is that such an Act, which is a Central Act, can only come into force in Goa by a notification from the Centre. Section 1( 3) of the Special Marriage Act states, “ It shall come into force on such date, as the Central Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette appoint”. The notification by the state government holds no value and is null and void, they say.

Parallel jurisdiction

Lawyer Fernando Jorge Colaco calls it illegal.

“ Only the Centre can notify this Act.” He goes on to say that the Central Government never wanted to repeal the civil code laws in the State.

“ The highest level of administration at the Centre had decided not to repeal the Goa code as it was considered an example for the rest of India.

We have a system of civil laws which govern the private lives of individual citizens of Goa which is socially accepted by all communities in the State. Why disturb this with an optional law on the side? This is not only ignorance on the government’s part but arrogance. If this law is brought into force it will lead to chaos and more litigation. There will be parallel jurisdictions— two jurisdictions and two books of registration.

The Special Marriage Act is good but it is not required in Goa.”

To think that the Special Marriage Act gives tax benefits to non Goans registering their marriages in the State, is foolish he says. “ The benefit of commune of assets is only applicable to Goans under the Goa Civil Code.”

Elgar Noronha, another lawyer conversant with Portuguese law says the move by the government was misconceived. “ When we already have a code in place which integrates all the provisions, the State doesn’t require the Special Marriage Act which is a loose law and has nothing to do with the substantive law of the place.” Should the Act come into force, he says it will create chaos.

“ We need to update our existing laws, at most, but certainly not bring in this Act. The Special Marriage Act was passed with the intention of having a secular marriage law. But our State doesn’t need it because our law is already a secular one.” He calls it an erroneous legal policy.

He also doesn’t see any possible benefit the Act can have in Goa. Even if the Act was meant to help someone, it was misconceived, he says.

Positive features of the Common Civil Code as pointed out by PVS Sardessai former Registrar and Head of Notary Services, are the purely secular nature of the marriage registration where in any two persons of opposite sex including foreigners can marry here, while retaining their personal religious and other background affiliations. The field of conflict of laws in marriages between persons of different nationalities has also been provided for. The beneficial provisions, administrative orders, annotations and opinions as consolidated in the Code and by way of statutory annexures make it a model Code and irons out most of the practical problems in matters relating to the registration of marriages.

Cause for chaos

Constitutional expert Amrut Kansar too feels the Act is completely unnecessary and if enforced will lead to confusion. “ The Common Civil Code has more situations covered under it and even has the law of divorce. Marriage under civil code is the personal law of Goans. The Special marriage act is not the personal law of the people of Goa. It will create a huge problem. The present law should not be changed.”

Unable to understand the exact intention of the government through this notification, Kansar takes a dig at the government. “ The government does not have an open mind. With every passing day we’re becoming a closed society. The intention of this notification is not known.”

Adv Uday Bhembre says the special marriage act is not on par with the existing law. “ When there is already a law in force in Goa, to bring in another law for the same purpose could create problems.” He believes the Act is being introduced to accommodate “ a friend”. But he also reiterates that under the Special Marriage Act one cannot avail of any tax benefits.

Goa Congress chief John Fernandes had alleged that the gazette notification was brought in for the benefit of the son of a high profile Supreme Court lawyer who married in the State.

Herald Review found that it wasn’t the son, but the daughter of the lawyer who got married in Goa in February this year.

Domicile relaxation

The same month the Chief Minister also announced the government planned to relax domicile for women from outside the State who marry Goan men. The relaxation would permit the women to apply for a government job with a mere two- year domicile instead of fifteen years. Bhembre cites this relaxation in the rules to be another ploy to accommodate people from outside the State. “ This puts the local woman at a disadvantage as she has to show 15 years domicile. This also goes against the interest of the local people.”

The Goa Family Code Bill Committee constituted to recast the existing personal laws in Goa has been dormant for some years now.

The committee was to redraft the existing personal laws which were in Portuguese and fit them within the conceptual framework of the Indian Constitution. Several Goan legal experts and eminent judges worked for close to three years to produce the initial legislations of a Goa Code comprised in The Goa Succession, Special Notaries and Inventory Proceeding Bill, 2005 which was submitted to the Goa Legislative Assembly on January 3, 2005. The Bill was reintroduced in the Assembly in August 2008. One senior advocate who was in the committee said work stopped because frivolous objections were raised by non experts for the sake of objection. The committee spent two Sundays and month and worked conscientiously from 9:30 to 5pm.

“ If a law cannot be understood and needs to be recast in English and there are people of high repute and standing doing it, what’s wrong with that?” Sardessai who was also in the committee asks.

Ramakant Khalap former chairman of the Goa State Law Commission feels the government took this move to make it convenient for people to settle in Goa from other States. He has another point of view on the Goa Civil Code.

“ The uniform civil code is a dream of the country. There is no uniform civil code in the State. This is a misconception. When the civil code came into force in Goa the Customs of Usages of Hindus in Goa was also enacted to protect the Hindus. There is an impression that there is a common civil code but some Hindus opted for the Hindu law and it was accepted by the Portuguese. The Hindu Undivided Family prevailed in addition to the civil code. But this new notification will only cause confusion.”

Sardessai says efforts should be made to apply the uniform civil code to the whole of India.

“ Piecemeal efforts like this gazette notification shouldn’t be done. When we have the uniform civil code that is a model for the whole of India why dilute it, unless there is a vested plan. It can be nullified by the court of law if someone challenges it. It should be revoked.”

An official from the Law Department when contacted said the Special Marriage Act was already applicable in the State as it was notified by the government. When questioned about Section 1( 3) in the Act, the official first said the subject was a matter of interpretation and later said he wouldn’t like to comment on it.

“Whether wrongly or rightly, the State has enforced this Act. If someone feels differently he can challenge it,” he said. Review Bureau

  

School for Scandal

School for Scandal

Herald Review April 20, 2014

Months ago, the High Court directed the government to carry out an inquiry into complaints of irregularities and harassment of two teachers at the Dr Ambedkar English High School in Cunchelim. Even as the inquiry by the Directorate of Education is on, the harassment has not stopped.

LISA ANN MONTEIRO

Set up with the intention of helping children from the ST/ SC and OBC communities, the Dr Ambedkar English High School in Cunchelim has run into a controversy over the management and misuse of the educational institution for personal profit.

Matters came to such a pass that two of the teachers were compelled to approach the High Court of Bombay at Goa after their complaints to the Director of Education failed to move the government to intervene. In an order passed on August 12 last year, the High Court ordered the Directorate of Education ( DE) to conduct an inquiry into the complaints in accordance with the Goa School Education Act 1984 and disposed of the petition.

But the situation has got no better for the teachers at the receiving end of the harassment. The management has recently begun inquiry proceedings for the termination of their services, and they fear the worst.

Anant V Kaushal a social science teacher was working on permanent basis at Shanta Vidyalaya in Sodiem Siolim when he was approached to join Dr Ambedkar English High School by the management. He joined as headmaster in June 2009. The school was started in June 2008 in Duler, Mapusa in the home of the society’s founder and chairman N G Akhargekar and later moved to a newly constructed building in Cunchelim in 2011.

Akhargekar is both chairman of the Ambedkar Education Society and now manager of the school.

Kaushal said in his petition that he was appointed undergraduate teacher in the Ambedkar school in Cunchelim with effect from August 25, 2011 on temporary basis on probation for two years with the approval of the DE. He had worked in the same school on a contract basis from June 2008. He was regular and diligent in his work and there were no complaints against him either from his students or other staff members. But things took a turn after Akhargekar began harassing Kaushal “ to donate Rs 9 lakh to the Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Education Society for confirmation of his services on the ground that having appointed him, he is required to pay something back to the Society,” the petition said.

The harassment took the form of interference in his classes by the manager, and instigation of students to disobey the teacher, putting him under emotional stress. Kaushal also alleged he was not allowed to attend school functions and PTA meetings.

The petition details serious irregularities in the running of the school and the collection of funds. Apart from being assigned duties that were not part of his job, Kaushal was also compelled to donate money. During the academic years 2009- 10 and 2010- 2011 he had drawn a salary of Rs 2,56221. But both Akhargekar and former manager Vivek Pawar ( his son- in- law) asked the teacher to part with Rs 1,80,000 from his salary to the school society, claiming it was meant for the construction of the new school building at Cunchelim.

Kaushal personally handed over the money to Akhargekar in cash in two installments of Rs 60,000 on March 17, 2011 and Rs 1,20,000 on April 25, 2011, the court was told, but he received no receipts for these amounts.

Kaushal’s wife, Milan Nare, also a teacher at the school, was compelled to donate Rs 1,65,000 from her salary.

Nare too is a petitioner in the case.

After their complaint to the Director of Education and their refusal to pay the Rs 9 lakh each, they continue to work in the school on probation basis, but the mistreatment has got worse. Akhargekar doesn’t allow them to mingle with other teachers forcing them to sit alone in a separate section, a verandah of the school ( see photo). They have also not been paid salaries for eleven months.

Herald Review also spoke to a member of the society who asked that his name not appear. He said he was present when Akhargekar asked teachers for money. “ All his family members are in the society, this is a scandal. There were never any minutes recorded of meetings and when I raised my voice they stopped calling me for meetings. I gave him Rs 40,000 for the construction of the new building.” He says the DE must hold an impartial inquiry into the functioning of the school and the way it collects funds.

The Ambedkar school society and management committee is largely a family affair. Akhargekar’s wife Bharati, his daughter Rajeshree, son- inlaw Vivek Pawar and his brothers- in- law Laxman and Suresh Parsekar figure in them prominently. Suresh Parsekar who is a library attendant at St Xavier’s College Mapusa is a member of the Ambedkar education society’s executive committe and even signs letters as its acting chairman. St Xavier’s College when contacted confirmed that he is employed as an attendant.

Kaushal and his wife are not the only ones who have dared stand up to the Akhargekar family. Eknath Rathod, a pupil of the school, has also filed a complaint to the DE on August 26, 2013 saying he is being harassed by the management. The harassment started when he asked the manager for a receipt for the fees taken, his complaint says.

An ex- teacher of the school who didn’t want to be identified says he too was persistently targeted to force him to quit the job. “ I was also made to sit separately in the verandah with Anant and Milan while all the other teachers would be allowed to sit in the office.” The school doesn’t even have a computer lab, he says.

When Herald Review got in touch with director of education Anil Powar he said his office is in the process of submitting a report to the High Court.

What about the inquiry proceedings being carried out by the Ambedkar school to terminate the services of the two teachers who approached the court? “ That is a separate matter. As per the education law we will look into the merit of termination. There are two hearings still left and the two teachers are not attending the hearings and keep asking for them to be postponed,” Powar said. Review Bureau

  

A concrete solution or A waste of money?

A concrete solution or A waste of money?

Herald Review May 4, 2014

While the public calls the Rs 72 cr contract to concretize and beautify the Miramar road a colossal waste of money, the Goa State Infrastructure Development Corporation (GSIDC) is asking people to look at it as an investment.

LISA ANN MONTEIRO

The road was dug up last year for the laying of a sewage pipeline. A part of it was hot mixed in January to make it presentable for the Lusofonia Games. In February GTDC floated a tender for the concretization and beautification of the road. M Venkat Rao was awarded the contract at a cost of Rs 72 cr.

GSIDC officials say the road is being designed according to the draft master plan prepared for Panjim by LKS consultants.

“ We are implementing everything as per the plan,” one GSIDC official told Herald Review . The road, like other roads in the State is dug up each time for the laying of different utilities. Money is also spent before the International Film Festival each year to hot mix the road.

Concretization of the road, officials say will save residents from the regular inconvenience they are put through.

The road from Miramar circle to Raj Bhavan, being built in concrete, will be 11 meters wide with three lanes with newly built footpaths on either sides with a special cycle track on the seaward side. Once built in concrete, the road will not need to be dug for the laying of utilities anymore.

“ The basic idea is to organize the services so that there will be no more digging. Water, electricity, BSNL cables will all be moved to either side of the road. If there are any repairs required, all one will have to do is remove the pavers on the footpath and then put them back. Nobody should dig the road for the next fifty years,” the official said.

GSIDC used concrete for the first time in 2003 in the Canacona bus stand when it constructed the bus stand. It has used concrete in all of the bus stands built by it since— at Honda, Shiroda and Cuncolim among others. But the concrete road being built in Miramar, unlike the ones done at the bus stands, is being “ designed” very meticulously and scientifically, GSIDC says.

“ It’s not just about laying of concrete. For the foundation to be strong we have to dig one meter below to create a strong base. We first check the soil condition and its bearing capacity, and then based on this, other layers are designed. There is no steel so no question of corrosion arises.

There cannot and will not be any potholes.

Pavement Quality Concrete ( PQC) the highest grade of concrete will be used. This has never been done in Goa before,” the official said. He points out that the road inside Kala Academy too was built in concrete in 2004 for the first IFFI, and it hasn’t needed any maintenance for the past ten years. It was an investment and it has paid off, he says, and only that parking area needs to be tarred because it was not laid out in concrete.

The sewage pipeline laid at a depth of three to four metres in the new Miramar road will remain in the middle of the road and manholes will be maintained. The official says any work on the sewage line can take place through the man hole. “ What leakage can happen? The pipes are all thick HDB pipes which are sealed and welded tight. Sewage lines are maintained in the middle of the road even in other metropolitan cities that have concrete roads.” The three- lane road will not have a median in between and streetlights will also be on either sides of the road. These will be special LED lights, he says, which don’t have to be replaced and come with a warranty of seven years.

GSIDC does not intend to increase the width of the road because the plan is to reduce traffic on this road and develop the stretch into a leisure area where people will be able to use the footpaths and cycle track to walk and cycle. The cycle track— around three meters wide— will have a railing protecting cyclists from the traffic. There will also be parking spaces for cycles and other vehicles as well as a bus bay demarcated along the stretch. GSIDC is also planning toilets and wooden pathways leading to the beach but these don’t form part of the current contract. 

Also part of the contract is the road leading from NIO circle to the Dona Paula jetty. This will not be built in concrete but paved with granitic cobble stones. The GSIDC official said that vehicles will not be allowed to park at the Jetty area. Tourists can proceed on foot.

GSIDC justifies the cost of Rs 72 cr saying it is an investment. Only Rs 27 cr of the Rs 72 cr is being spent on the concrete road. It costs a mere Rs 4649 per square metre for the concrete road as opposed to Rs 3136 for a bituminous road. The cost difference is hardly a matter of Rs 8 crore the official says. “ Most metropolitan cities in India have resorted to concrete roads, shouldn’t we try the same in Goa? This is a permanent solution for this road.

We have so many drawings of this road and everything is being designed and planned very meticulously. Goa will also see for the first time a concrete paver which itself costs Rs 3 cr.

This paver ensures that there is a proper thickness level and a proper finish. It will ensure precision and will not leave room for human interference and error. But the concrete road is only one part of the entire contract.

The street furniture, shifting of utilities, footpaths, bus bay, parking area, cycle track, drainage, landscaping is all a part of the contract. The entire façade of the street from Miramar to Dona Paula will be changed. People will only be able to appreciate it once it’s done.” As part of the draft master plan, work is also on for the construction of the eastern road from Rua de Ourem to Dona Paula. Review Bureau