Resisting RTI

RESISTING RTI

Herald Review August 24, 2014 

Despite the government's resistance, commerce professors and RTI activists have almost won the battle to retain the RTI unit in the Goa BCOM syllabus. 


LISA ANN MONTEIRO 

Commerce professors in Goa came to a consensus and decided to retain the Right to Information ( RTI) unit in the syllabus of business and public communication for commerce students, at a meeting convened on August 9. The meeting chaired by Dr Laxman Naik chairman of the board of studies of commerce was well attended by faculty of commerce colleges in the State.

The professors decided that it was best to bring down the weightage of marks of the subject to 25 from the earlier decided 45 as they found this too high. They also sought to correct certain flaws, one of which was that the subject was not meant to feature in the time table.

RTI activists sought special permission to be present at the meeting as observers and watch the proceedings unfold. One major practical aspect of the syllabus was to allow students to file their own RTI and then write a report based on the reply. Although the new syllabus was proposed by the board of studies and ratified by the academic council early this year, the government feared its departments would be flooded with RTI applications and attempts were made to remove it from the syllabus.

To prevent this from happening, the professors came to a practical conclusion at the meeting to follow the same yardstick followed for final year college projects where students work in a group. It was decided that a maximum of ten students would work together in sending a single RTI application.

Both professors and RTI activists considered the meeting a success with the RTI activists even sending a letter of thanks to the vice chancellor of Goa University and board of studies chairman for accepting their representations.

However the activists were shocked to find that the minutes of the August 9 meeting were doctored when they were put before the board of studies of commerce that met on August 20, in an attempt to remove the practical aspect of filing an RTI. The modified version of the minutes mentions that the students should merely prepare a draft of an RTI application in their classrooms.

The professors were angry at the attempt to overrule their decision and brought this to this attention of the board of studies which approved the decided syllabus. It is now for the academic council to give its final approval.

It was Bhaskar Nayak, direector of higher education and Radhika Nayak principal of Dempo College of Commerce and Economics who had written to the Goa University recently asking them to review the syllabus with respect to the RTI unit. The board of studies of commerce had then decided that the professors themselves should have a meeting and decide on the matter.

Ganpat Kurtiker, secretary Goa RTI Forum says one of the primary objectives of the RTI module is to make students aware of their constitutional rights. Filing of RTI applications by the students will allow them to understand the actual working of the government departments.

“ The process would make them aware of their rights and give them an insight into the responsibilities of a public organisation and its employees towards the citizens of the county,” he said. Review Bureau 

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Another Playground for the Privileged.

Another playground for the privileged

Herald Review August 17, 2014 

Should the government protect the interests of a private party— in this case one of the biggest hotel groups in the country— or a village? Herald Review revisits the case of the Aguada plateau where the Candolim- Sinquerim villagers continue to resist relinquishing their rights to the land. 

LISA ANN MONTEIRO  

The government has been tying itself up in knots from the moment it acquired over 3 lakh sq mt land of the Aguada plateau from the Candolim comunidade ( for a pittance) and tried to give it on a platter to the Taj Group of Hotels for the development of a ‘ recreational park’. 

The comunidade which has been battling the case for years— determined to get a higher compensation for the land— has got little reprieve so far from the authorities. On Thursday, the additional director of panchayats who has been hearing both the parties over the past few weeks declined a petition by the interveners who had asked for a site inspection with all authorities present.

The villagers of Candolim and Sinquerim, interveners in the case, have been fighting the project tooth and nail.

The government paid the Candolim comunidade a petty Rs 10 per sq mt when they acquired 3,13,630 sq mt of the prime property on Aguada plateau in 1983.

The comunidade took the government to court over the paltry compensation rate. In 2004, the High Court of Bombay at Goa dismissed the comunidade’s appeal stating that the claimant could not prove the land deserved a higher market value. The court said in view of the arguments put forward by Advocate General ANS Nadkarni that the land had “ no potential for development” because of the restrictions under various statutory provisions, the petitioners had no case to claim Rs 300 per sq mt as the market value. The AG had submitted that there were several factors to show that the land in question could not be developed for either building or any commercial activity in the future.

As it turns out, the property on Aguada plateau with a sea facing view does have commercial viability, and that’s why the Governor of Goa signed a lease agreement with M S Hotels Ltd Director, leasing out the over 3 lakh sq mt for a total lease period of 99 years ( till 2096) for the development of the plateau as a ‘ recreational park of international standard with allied facilities’. 

The lease agreement speaks of a recreational park with amusement rides, water rides, electronic amusement, mini zoo, mini lagoon, children’s theatre, village shopping arcade, local arts and crafts museum, convention all hall for exhibitions and local festivals, mini golf course, lawn tennis court, badminton court, club house among other facilities. Oddly the amusement rides and water rides find no mention or representation in the project’s plan raising doubts about whether the project is in fact a recreational park or private resort.

Looking back at old records, the villagers of Candolim find that the conversion from orchard to settlement was kept under wraps and was never published in the official gazette. The property along with 30 odd properties came up for change in use of land in 1998 before the 84th meeting of the town and country planning board chaired by the then Chief Minister Pratapsingh Rane. In a gazette notification soon after dated December 4, 1998, all the other properties find mention except the Aguada property S/ No 96/ 0. The property today is still designated as orchard in RP 2001 and RP 2021.

The government continued to bend over backward to fraudulently obtain permissions. When the Goa Coastal Management Zone Authority ( GCZMA) pointed out that the proposed construction of the recreational park was falling within the no development zone ( within 200 mt from the HTL) as per CRZ notification and requested the party to revive the proposal by shifting the development outside the 200 mt, the hotel in their reply in August 1999 wrote, “ Kindly note that 7 buildings planned for various health facilities, out of total 11 buildings in the proposed project come within the belt now identified by you as the no development zone and the same cannot be relocated now elsewhere, as such relocation will disturb the recreational facilities planned in the remaining area. Moreover the entire economics of our project will be adversely affected, in the event of the plans being modified, thereby making the project economically unviable.” 

In their reply in October 1999, the GCMZA reiterated that the CRZ notifications of 1991 prohibit development within the belt of 200 mt from HTL. The letter states that the CRZ notifications “ permits only hotels/ resorts in designated areas of CRZ III ( with prior approval of the MOEF) and restricted number of dwelling units within the ambits of ‘ traditional rights and customary uses”. Oddly the GCMZA in the same letter suggested that the hotel ‘ revise’ their project. The authority said that ‘ the proposal should be conceived as a recreational resort’ instead ( see box GCZMA advice to Taj).

Helping hand

The collusion between the government and its various departments in obtaining permissions for the project continued.

In a letter to Taj in 2002 deputy superintending archaeologist of Mini Circle Panjim, G S Narasimha asked the hotel “ not to go ahead with the proposed project in the above specified areas and without observing the formalities such as obtaining ‘ no objection certificate’ from director general ( ASI New Delhi) which are mandatory”. 

In the same letter he also wrote, “ Fort Aguada both upper and lower comprising the fort walls, bastions and other remains inside is declared as a centrally protected monument as per Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Site and Remains Act 1958.Further as per the 1992 Gazette notification under the said act, the area up to 100 mt and further up to 200 mt surrounding the monument has been declared as prohibited and regulated areas respectively for the purpose of mining and construction activities.”

He added, “ These national monuments are precious heritage of our land and our utmost duty is to preserve it for posterity. In the name of development, such projects coming up next to the protected monument will certainly have its impact in endangering the ancient ambience of the locality and consequently damaging them.”

Three years later the hotel receives no NOC from the director general of ASI but instead receives approval from N Taher deputy superintending archaeologist, Mini Circle Panjim.

Indian Resort Hotels had appealed before the Director of Panchayats ( DP) in 2002 and again in 2005 after the Candolim panchayat refused to give the party a license. The matter has remained pending ever since before the DP. Indian Resort Hotels approached the High Court of Bombay at Goa which directed the DP to dispose of the petition on or before August 31, 2014.

The villagers of Candolim and Sinquerim involved with the case say they want the land— the last piece of non commercialized open space left in entire Candolim— to be preserved for their children.

They claim the government has obtained permissions fraudulently for the hotel and the lease is nothing but a backdoor method of sale of their comunidade land. They fear that the government will give a blanket order to the panchayat to ‘ process’ the file.

“Who is the deciding authority in this case? He is a paid servant of the government. What justice can we expect when the government is an interested party? There should be a separate judicial officer handling the case. Public interest should be kept supreme over private interest,” one intervener from Sinquerim said. 

GCZMA advice to Taj 

Further the CRZ Notification permits only Hotels/ Resorts in designated areas of CRZ III ( with prior approval of the MOEF) and restricted number of dwelling units within the ambits of ‘ Traditional Rights and Customary uses’. 

As such your present recreational park project proposal may be revised in terms of the following: 

( i) The proposal should be conceived as a Recreational Resort.

( ii) The layout of the Resort should be modified so that is strictly abides by the provisions of the CRZ Notification in terms of NDZ, coverage, FAR, Height.

( iii)… approach the concerned office of the ASI for guidance while revising the project proposal….). 

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Review Bureau 

Remoulding new life into old tyres

Remoulding new life into old tyres 

Herald Review August 10, 2014  

Anu Tandon Vieira upcycles discarded tyres and other industrial waste to produce beautiful furniture pieces writes LISA ANN MONTEIRO


Where others see trash, Mumbai based designer Anu Tandon Vieira sees beauty. Her perspective is refreshing in 21st century India where the use and throw culture is popular.

Vieira gives new life to old discarded tyres. Together with migrant skilled cane and bamboo weavers she weaves over tyres with ropes made from recycled textile and plastic wrapper waste to produce vibrant, one of a kind furniture pieces.

Tyres take a good 30,000 years to disintegrate and with cars getting cheaper, the problem at dumps is only getting bigger. Once Vieira’s team of weavers set their hands on discarded tyres, they cease being a reject piece of nuisance and add value to one’s life. “ There’s no way you wouldn’t want them in your environment,” she says.

She has as part of her Retyrement Plan collection comfortable and fashionable pouffes, ottomans, lounge chairs, tables. To this rather unusually recycled pieces of furniture, she will soon be adding a range of swings and hammocks.

She is happy to customize and share the functioning of retyrement plan with anyone who is interested.

The migrant skilled craftsmen from Bengal, Assam and Bihar often earn a pittance, garnering little or no value for their work. Cheaper and trendier products from South East Asia only make their plight worse.

One of Vieira’s aims in her Retyrement Plan is to support and work with these craftsmen so that they don’t go looking for unskilled work. “ There are plenty of malls coming up and instead of slaving in an uncomfortable environment, they prefer working as liftmen and watchmen.” Her priority is to see that the weavers receive good wages. “ I’d rather say, get me this price than eat into their earnings. It’s my responsibility to find a market for the products. If it takes them four days to make a lounge chair, I don’t ask that they do it within two days. I wouldn’t want them to suffer because if they do, then they will cut corners in design.” There are enough designers out there who work in air- conditioned environments that don’t make a difference to anyone. “ If I can sustain even five families of weavers I will feel like I’ve accomplished something,” she said.

Vieira’s project is only a year and a half old and while many are still warming up to the idea, she has been getting enquiries from Australia and Scandinavia. Once she educates potential clients about the thought and effort behind the project, appreciation pours in.

The thoroughly washed and sanitized tyres are treated before they are upscaled. But she still has to deal with people who turn their noses up, saying they cannot have waste sitting in their house. This is a mindset she is working on changing.

A fine arts graduate with a specialization in sculpture and a post graduate degree in textile design, Vieira has been working on a wide array of projects as a freelance designer and consultant since 1989.

She has worked on the restoration and refurbishment of palaces in Udaipur, ventured into art direction for feature films and also created textiles for the international market. All through her career she has always had a fascination for working with mundane material, mostly plastic strapping, carton wrapping, leather scrap and other industrial waste.

The trick is getting to the discarded items before they are dumped in a landfill. “ The scrap from manufacturing playing cards is beautiful and can be used to weave into baskets but once this travels to the dump it is lost.” It is never waste if it is segregated and reused.

She sees no great relevance in making lampshades from plastic spoons or flowers from plastic bottles.

These are merely cosmetic and don’t make a real difference she says.

Her designs are sold at Paper Boat Collective and 6 Assagao, a branch of People Tree. She has plans of bringing her retirement plan to Goa one day.

She hopes her upscaled products can one day go full circle when auto industries integrate them into their lives as part of their social responsibility. Review Bureau

'GMC is best govt-run hospital in country'

'GMC is best govt- run hospital in country’ 

Herald Review August 10, 2014 

Goa Medical College’s new Dean Pradeep Naik tells LISA ANN MONTEIRO

After three decades of service Dr Pradeep Naik, head of the Ophthalmology department, took over as dean of the Goa Medical College and Hospital on August 1. Dr Naik took over from neurosurgeon Dr V N Jindal who held the post since November 2005.

At the helm of affairs, one of Dr Naik’s priorities will be reviewing and improving academic programmes offered by the college, which he will initiate at the first council meeting scheduled for August 14.

To keep all academicians on their toes, he wants to set an academic audit in place. Departments informally evaluate their own programmes but a formal academic audit has never been carried out. A committee of senior professors will be appointed to do the same.

His immediate focus is getting MCI ( Medical Council of India) recognition for the college. He is keeping tabs on the construction of additional lecture halls and the girls’ hostel and will ensure these will be complete before the next MCI inspection. Present infrastructure is inadequate and was created for students almost two decades ago when the intake was only 70. Today the intake is 150 with 600 students using the campus. “ Getting MCI recognition is one of the top most priorities and I don’t want to have any hurdle in getting it,” he told Herald Review.

Naik also plans to initiate new programs at the post graduate level.

MD in transfusion medicine, MD in geriatrics medicine to care for the elderly, MD in trauma and emergency medicine and MD in family and physician medicine. “ Of course these will require approvals from the MCI and Goa University so this may take procedural time but I’d like to introduce these within two years,” he says.

For a tertiary hospital designed to treat complex cases and focus on teaching, GMC sees a tremendous load of patients flocking to the hospital with trivial sicknesses, leaving doctors with little time to focus on complex procedures and teaching. Dr Naik doesn’t see this as a problem.

“ I look at the large numbers in a positive way because ours is a teaching institution with over 600 students training at our hospital.

We cannot work purely as a tertiary care hospital, we have to work as a general hospital too. If we don’t work as a general hospital how will we train our MBBS doctors to treat common diseases? Our hospital has to work in double fold and has to take care of the clinical workload for training students. As an apex institution we have to provide both services. We never drive away any patients however small their diseases may be.” When asked whether treating common colds and fever overburden doctors, he says senior consultants aren’t burdened by these cases.

“ We have junior resident staff and senior resident staff. These cases don’t go directly to consultants. They are examined by the resident doctors and filtered before they go to the consultants.” Poor facilities in primary health care centres are not the reason patients prefer GMC, he says. Many health care centres are equipped more than their norms and some even have ECG and ultrasound machines.

“ Patients prefer being treated at the GMC because with 22 departments, they can get all their problems solved under a single roof.” As for those from the neighbouring states of Maharashtra and Karnataka availing of free treatment at the hospital, he says Goa is a part of the country and the hospital doesn’t work on boundaries.

When asked why the Goan taxpayer is being burdened with the cost of treating them he said that is a policy decision to be taken by the state government. “ As dean I cannot decide these policies. We have been given instructions by the government to give free treatment at GMC. Whether to charge the patients or not is a decision that the government has to take.” The six month old super specialty cardio thoracic centre has proved to be a big success for the hospital, and the government claims is saving the state crores of rupees that were being spent on mediclaim.

The new centre has treated around 300 patients till date. Over 96 bypass procedures and 200 angioplasties have been carried out.

“ Under mediclaim we saw 100- 120 cases of cardiac surgeries a year but our doctors have done 96 surgeries in these past few months,” the dean says.

The centre is a relief for patients who had to leave the state seeking cardiac treatment. The cost on the exchequer of running the new super specialty centre hasn’t been worked out yet, he says.

Dr Naik joined the Goa Medical College as junior resident in 1981 and as senior resident in 1984. As the dean of the college and hospital he will have under his care the Goa Medical College and the hospital at Bambolim, the Rural Health and Training Centre at Mandur, the urban Health Centre at St Cruz and the TB Hospital at St Inez.

As a professor of the medical college, he wants to improve academics.

As far as the hospital is concerned, he says it has a very competent medical superintendent. “ She has streamlined many things. I will help her and take part in policy decisions.” GMC’s success he says lies in the government never refusing the hospital funds. “ That’s how we are able to run a 1000- bed hospital free of cost. It is one of the best government run hospitals in the country with so many free facilities. You will not see such a largescale government hospital being run free of cost anywhere else in the country.” Review Bureau 

Festival of Lights

Festival of lights


Herald Review August 3, 2014 


The Story of Light Festival, a unique festival that is a cross between a science and art festival, is slated to take place in Goa in January 2015 A screenshot of the festival website

LISA ANN MONTEIRO

In a welcome change from the hordes of music festivals being held during the winter months in the state, a motley group of intelligent, artistic and enthusiastic individuals have conceptualised the first- of- its- kind The Story of Light Festival to be held in January next year.

The idea for the festival came to Jaya Ramchandani when she was studying astronomy in the Netherlands. Fascinated by concepts and laws in Quantum physics, she was disheartened to find that these were all simply confined to books and weren’t reaching the general public.

It was this, together with a certain dissatisfaction with the education system, which urged her to share her knowledge using non- conventional means with others. She initially decided to conduct a series dedicated to children to dispel certain myths about science, but later felt the need to reach out to a wider audience.

The five- day festival, beginning January 14, focusing on light will have four main themes.

‘ Light and life’ which will explore light as a universal symbol of life and its role in our culture, architecture and religion. ‘ Seeing and Perceiving’ will focus on light and vision and its myriad connections to perception of reality. The ‘ Our Universe’ theme will follow the journey of light and give one a clearer picture about abstract themes like infinity. The ‘ Light in Technology’ theme will highlight how humans have exploited light from radio waves to gamma rays.

What’s attractive about the festival is that there are no long, tedious and uninteresting sessions scheduled, where formulae and abstract concepts will be thrown at the participants. “ We’re trying to make each session a collaboration between two experts- a scientist and an artist for example. Artists are the right people to turn education into an engaging and enlightening experience.

We don’t want people to have a passive experience at the festival. We want them to be able to touch, experience and play around with various things. We want education to happen without people knowing it and this can only happen when they’re having fun. Hence the highlight of the festival will be its interactive workshops, screenings, performances, installations and exhibitions,” Tanushri Shukla, one of the hosts, says.

A digital product manager and entrepreneur, Shukla confesses to hating science when she was in school. She later found that it had the same truths to reveal as spirituality and philosophy, only in a different language.

She promises the festival will break notions about how dull science can be. Participants will be able to relate to the concepts and see its applicability in their daily lives.

At other festivals, ‘ light’ is spoken of in terms of technology. Here the ‘ light’ is used almost metaphorically, touching all aspects from philosophy to culture and religion. It is the first time that a festival will be held where cross disciplinary scientists, artists and philosophers among others will share ideas and communicate on all aspects of light.

“ We’ve seen science festivals and we’ve also seen art festivals, but we’ve not seen an intersection of the two,” Shukla says.

The host thought of light as it is the most democratic and cuts across all schools of thought, culture, religion and affects each one of us directly.

The festival is well timed as 2015 has been declared the International Year of Light by the United Nations.

Artists from Japan, Netherlands and Brazil have recently signed up and the hosts expect around 50,000 people to attend the festival.

A walking route has been planned through Panjim from the Goa Science Centre to Kala Academy and to the Immaculate conception Church with light installations, exhibitions and performances.

The sessions will take place from January 14 to 18, while the exhibitions will be on until the end of the month. The festival has no entry fee and is open to all.

The hosts are seeking proposals from scientists, artists and others for workshops, talks and screenings.Review Bureau

Cutting at the roots of democracy

Cutting at the roots of democracy 


Herald Review August 3, 2014 

The efficacy and fairness of grassroots governance will be undermined and irreparably damaged if the government implements its decision to make amendments in the Panchayati Raj Act to hold panchayat and zilla panchayat elections along party lines. 

LISA ANN MONTEIRO 


Ignoring pressing problems and issues confronting panchayats and their functioning, the government has instead mooted a radical change in the way elections are being conducted at the grassroots level. The government is pushing for local governance along narrow, party lines.

But it has not been all smooth sailing.

A few panchayats have recently passed resolutions at their gram sabhas opposing the government’s proposal.

Ten members of the South Zilla Panchayat at a meeting also opposed the government’s plan. The Chief Minister, they felt, was misguiding the people. What they want is for the government to give them the powers due to them.

Constitutional expert Amrut Kansar doesn’t believe elections at the panchayat level along party affiliations will be healthy for the State and its people. Society, at least at the village level, should remain intact, he says.

“ Once party differences crop up, this will lead to divisions within families and society. Community bonds will be broken.” If parties fight elections on the basis of economic planning, then things could be different. “ Unfortunately each party is fighting the election using character assassination. Where is the sanctity in elections today?” he asks.

Nelly Rodrigues, South Goa Zilla panchayat chairperson finds this sudden proposed amendment highly suspect.

She believes that people’s views should be taken into consideration before any amendment is implemented.

She says, “ It should be a bottom up approach. Let’s not forget that in a democracy people’s opinion is supreme.” She fears that elections along party lines will only lead to too much interference from political parties and inefficient and corrupt individuals will be put forward and will end up being a burden on the people.

In April last year the Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar was upbraided for his disregard of gram sabhas. He felt that they enjoyed merely an ‘ advisory capacity’ within the panchayati raj system and were at best meant to play ‘ watchdog’ over the functioning of local bodies. Activists across the board argued that gram sabhas have a right to decide on the development of their respective villages.

Dr Dattaram Desai, an Aam Aadmi Party supporter says his village was able to resist the hazardous Nylon 6, 6 project back in 1995 because of a decision taken by the gram sabha. The decision was taken as final and cases were then withdrawn and the villagers emerged victorious. As a telling example, he emphasizes the ‘ ideal’ panchayat of Hiware Bazaar in Amednagar, Maharashtra where all decisions for the village are taken by the gram sabha. “ Government officers have to attend and answer questions as ultimately it is they who are accountable.

The 73rd amendment gives villagers the power to throw out a project that is harmful to them,” explains Dr Desai.

Educationist Prabhakar Timble feels the further politics is kept from the functioning of the panchayat, the more conducive the environment will be for social and economic development.

John Fernandes, president of the Goa Pradesh Congress Committee ( GPCC) also looks askance at the BJP’s proposed amendment. He predicts the system will be made a mockery of if certain rules aren’t put in place to curb party defections first. He says, “ The Parliament and State Assembly have anti- defection laws. The Canadian Parliament has an ethics committee and defection is considered as unprincipled. An ethics committee should be first formed here to control defection.” When asked about the many panchayats that take pride in the fact that they are still able to function independently today and don’t want politics to infiltrate into the system at the village level, Fernandes asserted that such independence should be encouraged.

He said, “ People’s wishes should be taken into consideration. If people are for the amendment then we will support them.” Deputy sarpanch of Carmona Orlando Da Silva believes that there are many people who want to function independently and don’t want to align with any political party. “ Are they supposed to fall at the feet of politicians? I believe panchayat matters shouldn’t be mixed with party politics,” he says.

The government, he feels, is sidestepping many pressing issues, pointing out that absolutely nothing is being done by it to acquire land in villages for the locals. “ With rates soaring, villagers aren’t able to buy even 100 sq mtrs of land,” he says.

Minister for panchayats Laxmikant Parsekar however insists that this amendment is necessary and will help bring stability to panchayats. By adhering to the old Act, when a sarpanch was elected directly, there was little chance of him being overthrown. He would work for five years unless he was disqualified on some grounds.

The most popular excuse used today by panch members to overthrow their sarpanch is “ we have not been taken into confidence”. Da Silva adds that a panch member should be made to prove how the sarpanch defaulted.

Other problems being conveniently overlooked by the government are that of panchayats receiving minimal finances and not having permanent secretaries. The Anjuna panchayat, for instance, has seen six secretaries in a span of two years. This has seriously impacted the functioning of the panchayat.

Secretaries holding additional charge can devote at best only two days each week to their panchayats.

Besides, the government doesn’t support the panchayat when it asks for police protection to carry out inspections into illegal constructions.

Alakananda Shringare, assistant professor of political science at Goa University cannot understand why the government is so keen on this amendment. “ There’s no guarantee that the amendment will bring about stability,” she says. “ There has to be a reason for an amendment. What’s the government’s reason? Politics will enter into the system and impact the functioning of the panchayat. The panchayat has so many other problems such as devolution of powers, finances and accountability that need more attention. It’s not fair that while the voice of the MLAs is being heard, that of the people is ignored.” Royla Fernandes, the former sarpanch of Benaulim says this proposed amendment goes against the very grain of local self- governance that came through Gandhi. Should this be implemented, she says we will be controlled by politicians “ right from the Centre to the grassroots and the concept of the gram will be lost. Once parties come into the picture, the agenda will be that of the MLA’s and the views of the villagers will not be taken into consideration.” She contends that political interference can at least be controlled to some extent now, but once this move is legitimized then it will become the system itself.

Deputy sarpanch of Anjuna Patrick Almeida believes that the amendment, should it come about, will turn panchayats into dictatorships with the MLAs dictating terms to the panch members. “ It will no longer be panchayati raj but minister’s raj,” he says.

“ We treat all our villagers the same. But this will change if we have elections on party lines.” Soter D’souza, executive coordinator, department of governance of CSJP, believes people left to themselves will do a better job. This is the government’s modus operandi, he asserts, to maintain a complete hold over the people by putting their cadres into the very last leg of the system. Fearing it will only bring about more chaos, he says it will “ legitimize the nuisance caused by politicians in the panchayats.” Review Bureau  

'Goa is a potential economic and cultural partner'

'Goa is a potential economic and cultural partner' 

Herald Review July 27, 2014

East Timor or Timor- Leste was colonised by the Portuguese in 1512 and gained independence a good 14 years after Goa, only to be occupied by Indonesia in December 1975. It opted for selfdetermination after UN intervention in 1999. A little over four times the size of Goa, the Southeast Asian island country has been trying to get its tourism off the ground. A 13- member Timor- Leste delegation visited Goa last week to pick up some tips. President of the economic and development committee of the national parliament of Timor- Leste, Jacinta Abucau Pereira, who headed the delegation, spoke to LISA ANN MONTEIRO


We share a similar history, having been colonised by the Portuguese for close to 500 years before achieving freedom. What are your feelings about Goa? 
This is the first time that the economic and development committee of the national Parliament of Timor- Leste visited India or Goa. Our feelings are that there are far more similarities between Timor- Leste and Goa than we suspected in the beginning, although Goa is more developed than our country.

The one big difference of course is that Goa became part of the Indian Union and did not have to go through the post- colonial struggle that Timor- Leste was forced into to regain its independence from Indonesia. But you are still very much a country on the recovery.
Yes, you are right. The 24 years of administration of Timor- Leste by Indonesia ended in bloodshed and in massive destruction of different regions, with many cities burnt by Indonesians or the militias they nurtured. We had to begin the reconstruction of our country almost from scratch. Both from the point of view of human and physical capital, the level of development Indonesia left behind was very poor both in quantity and quality. Both will take at least a few generations to develop to a minimum level to be the basis of a sustainable development.

Media reports suggest that Timor- Leste could be in for a rough patch both politically and economically after Prime Minister Xanana Gusmão steps down.
Sincerely, I do not believe it. And I’m not giving you one of those “ clichéd” answers some politicians give. I do believe that we have now a level of political maturity and a level of understanding among the leaders of the different political parties of Timor- Leste that will be more than enough for a soft transition of generations at the top of the state leadership. A sign of this maturity and understanding is the fact that the last two state budgets were approved by all parties in Parliament.

Petroleum is one of your largest exports. It is estimated that your country’s oil and gas reserves would last only until 2025. What are alternative sources of income that Timor- Leste is looking at?
The last estimates are that the oil field now under exploration will be dry by 2020. This means that the present- day main source of financial resources will “ dry up” by then. But during all these years we put apart a lot of money— now US$ 16 billion— into our Petroleum Fund that will allow us, if well managed, to continue our development for at least 15- 20 years or more. We hope and we are trying to diversify our economy developing other non- oil sectors so that we can reduce our dependence from oil. We have now an ambitious plan of infrastructure development ( including roads, ports and airports) that will be seminal to our development. One of the sectors we are trying to develop further is tourism and this is the reason why this committee decided to visit Goa to try to get some lessons from your own tourism development.

We have a common language, Portuguese.How widely is it spoken and used in your country?
Timor- Leste was invaded by Indonesia at the end of 1975 and they ended all teaching of Portuguese. Although many people continued to use the language, but with caution, because anybody that used it was, for Indonesians, suspect of having links with the resistance movement. After the end of the Indonesian administration our leaders decided that Portuguese is part of our heritage and it should be developed.
That’s why our constitution says that both Tetum and Portuguese are our official languages. The education system is now using Portuguese more and more and we hope that the about 15 per cent people that can speak Portuguese will increase rapidly in the future.

There has been some talk of trade and economic cooperation between Goa and Timor- Leste. Do you see this taking off in any serious form? In which sectors could there be bilateral cooperation.
We will suggest that the government and the private sector look at Goa as potential economic and cultural partner in a much more important way than before. But the private sector of Goa has also to do their part. We have a very friendly environment for foreign investors and there plenty of sectors where foreign investment will be welcome.The special economic zone of Oecusse is there and open for business.Go there. See what Goan investors can do. A few simple examples: we need investors that are able to qualitatively rebuild our road system. The tourism sector, not only in Dili but also in other cities, needs to be developed. Small and medium enterprises ( namely in industry and services) are essential for development.Goa seems to have the expertise in this sector to help Timor- Leste investing there. Come! 
Review Bureau

Mumbai Scam Trail surfaces on Goa beaches

MUMBAI SCAM TRAIL surfaces on Goa beaches  

Herald Review July 27, 2014 

Mohammad Fasih, chairman and managing director of the Showman Group, who was arrested by the Economic Offences Wing in Mumbai for his involvement in a multicrore fixed deposits scam revealed during investigations that he invested part of the scam money in hotels and shack businesses in Goa.


LISA ANN MONTEIRO 

Illegalities continue to flourish in the State thanks to lax authorities and often with their blessings. Recently Mohammad Fasih, chairman and managing director of the Showman Group was taken into custody by the Economics Offences Wing ( EOW) of the Mumbai Crime Branch for siphoning off crores of rupees belonging to the South Indian Education Society Trust ( SIES) and government bodies namely the Mumbai Metropolitan Regional Development Authority ( MMRDA), the Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation ( MTDC) and the Agricultural Produce Market Committee ( APMC).

It is alleged that the Andheri businessman fraudulently made around Rs 300 crore of which RS 150 cr was made by siphoning off money from FD accounts of MMRDA, MTDC and APMC. SIES was duped to the extent of Rs 58 cr. Fasih during questioning revealed that he had invested part of the scam money in his hotel business in Goa.

Fasih’s Showman Hospitality Pvt Ltd is a stakeholder in Our Shack in Little Vagator, Blue Waves and Morjim Bay in Morjim, Sheesh Mahal Lounge in Margao, according to the Showman Hospitality Website.

Of these Blue Waves in Morjim and Our Shack on Ozran beach have been built in gross violations of CRZ with demolition notices issued to them.

But that’s as far as the authorities in Goa have gone. Demolition notices for CRZ violations have become nothing more than a piece of paper in the tourist belt.

Herald Review had reported about Our Shack’s illegalities in March this year. The Anjuna panchayat sent notices to the owners in November 2012 and again in December. In April 2013 the panchayat sent a requisition for demolition squad to the BDO. The BDO kept the matter hanging, and five months later in their reply asked the panchayat to put the file in order and resubmit the documents.

The demolition squad finally showed up at the premises on December 13, 2013 with the PI Anjuna police station, executive engineer, Bardez mamlatdar and BDO extension officer. But no demolition was carried out. Dashrath Gawas mamlatdar ( Bardez) had said that the permanent structures required JCBs, cutters and 30 labourers. “ Our talathi is preparing a report and we will be demolishing it soon.” The people who run Our Shack rented the property from Robert Coutinho who holds the power of attorney of the land which belongs to Antonio D’Souza. The problem began, had told this paper, when their silent partner ( Fasih) decided to give the property a makeover.

Seven months after the demolition squad visited the site, the shack which boasts of a bar, lounge area, dance floor, restaurant and hill side lodges still stands, though it hasn’t been running during the monsoon.

“ The panchayat is not a technical body. As per procedure the BDO should have come and inspected the site and found out what machinery was required to demolish the structure,” one panchayat member said.

The panchayat has been facing a tough time with their secretary being transferred every few months. In the last two years the panchayat has seen six secretaries. Their most recent secretary holds additional charge and this hampers the work of the panchayat. The panchayat has written to the Chief Minister, minister for panchayats ( who hails from Mandrem), and the director of panchayats asking them to stop transferring their secretaries.

The most recent letter was dated July 7 this year and states that the panchayat is a class A panchayat with a population of more than 10,000 and that it is becoming increasingly difficult to deal with mounting problems of garbage, illegal constructions, CRZ violations, development related work with “ Our administration has almost collapsed. Each new secretary that comes is a confused man and has to start from scratch. It is very suspicious how this is happening so often.

Whose interests are being protected? If a secretary is not competent then the DOP should terminate their services, not transfer them,” the panchayat member stated.

A panchayat secretary further has election duties, census work, meetings before the BDO and court matters to attend to that he is left with precious little time to devote to the pressing needs of the panchayat like going for inspections etc.

Blue Waves which CRZ officials have termed the ‘ mother of all CRZ violations’ is a ground plus one structure with 21 concrete pillars and marble flooring. They were also sent a demolition notice but approached the Green Tribunal in Delhi last year.

DCP Mahesh Patil, official spokesperson of Mumbai Police told Herald Review that Fasih is the prime accused and has six different cases against him each involving crores of rupees. He has been taken into custody and the CBI has recently begun investigating one of the cases. It has not emerged yet which of his hotels in Goa Fasih has invested the scam money in. Review Bureau