There was an air of relief on the second day at the Gomant Vishwa Sammelan at Kala Academy, the water supply to Panaji city was restored at 2206 hrs IST on 3rd January 2004, but there were sob tales. "The paper napkins for the loo which ought to be in place the day before when there was no water around was missing " said an exasperated NRG a senior citizen, from Tanzania.
There was an excellent exhibition of paintings by the Goa College of Art, the organisors were at pains to explain how the students of art college found the Corniche at the International Film Festival Campal and this Sammelan as a forum to express their talent. Infact they were all praise for the Government for providing them the opportunity. The Chief Secretary Mr D S Negi told this writer that on an earlier ocassion the students of the Catering college too were given and exposure at catering to the foreign clientele at IFFI, " such exposure which have a multiple effect cannot be measured" apparently refuting the criticism on the exhorbitant sums spend by the Government on IFFI as alleged by some. The Chairman of the GHRSSIDC Ltd did not turn up and it was left to Chairman GTDC Mr Sadanand Shet Tnanvade to inaugurate the same. Lateron the theme Goa's path to excellence what can we NGOs do? "Ones Life style has been the cause of many of the illnesses be it stress anxiety depression whatever" said Dr Meenaxi Martins and she made a power point illustration to elucidate the same which was well received by the audience. But there was one NRG who wanted to know from Dr Martins "how could one cope with the stress and anxiety caused to one by the lethargic bureaucracy in the State". As this harrassment has been the main grudge of the NRIs NRGs till date. Fortunately the promised question answer session was called of. The other was senior citizen Mrs Mangala Wagle of the Kasturba Gandhi Trust the Goa region was started in 1991 at Canacona and she later shifted activities in Hamara School -at Panaji a school for children who work around the market in Panaji. The presentation of Mr Bonifacio Charles of the TTAG which deals with the gamut of tourism was brief but a well set presentation and received wide appreciation.He mentioned about one gentleman from England who did not receive the co-operation from the Goa Government to introduce farm products needed for the hotel industry. Disgusted he moved to Maharashtra and has now successfuly cultivatedd organic rice green salads and lettuce in his farm. This is a clear instance of the Government interested only in the money from the NRIs and NRGs but do not care to allow them set up shop in Goa said one from Canada (who had a bitter experience with the Economic Development Corporation ) The Samrat Club of Ponda a cultural club indulged in organising Sammelans and are now are planning a venture abroad. But while its speaker Mr Guruprasad Shinkre stated that his Club had obtained a distinction in organising the functions on time he bored the audience with his presentation most of it out of context that it was left to the audience to force him cut short his speech. Sadly the co-ordinators Prof M S Kamat and Fr Romualdo De Souza intervened only when the audience was getting restless and surpringly Brigadier Ian da Costa the Co-Ordinator of the session who forewarned the speakers to stick to the seven minutes remained a silent spectator. But the others who spoke were of hi fi international organisations like the Jaycees, Rotary, Lions Clubs which are seen in Goa as forums for non Goans to seek membership and assimilate with the top business class to use these clubs as a stepping stone to success in Goa. Blood donations medical camps road safety week leadership personality development are normal features and these did not find appreciation with the NRGs and NRIs. One person remarked that the selection of speakers itself was biased as none of these were Non Governmental Organisation NGOs but mere clubs. Hence the real NGOs who are vigilant gave their presentations to the NRGs NRIs and that received the appreciation. There was Mr Roland Martins distributing his GOACAN a consumer issues hand out and the South Goa Public Interest Group an NGO which has been actively helping the NRIs and NRGs and infact has an interaction counter at the venue made a presentation copies which were mailed via email or distributed to the delegates. The presentation on Gurukul which is one of the projects floated under the newly formed (March 2004 ) Goa Education Development Corporation first educational estate will set up shop in Keri (of Nylon 6' 6 fame). The school to be set up will be on the lines of CBSE IB Cambridge -- and residential schools which are mostly in the hills like Mt Abu Uttaranchal Kodaikanal but have now moved in cities like Delhi Bangalore. These residential schools will cater to 30 student and have around 720 students. It will be run on purely corporate lines and a school Company formed under section 25 of the Companies Act 1960. If all goes well the same would commence in August. Other presentation did not get much of a response as they were connected with Life Insurance Corporation Housing and Development Finance Corp ICICI Prudential the NRGs and NRIs have experienced the services rendered by these organisations in the past years and do not take kindly to such organisations any longer. The lunch session received a good response one wonders whether it is the content matter of Sammelans or the lunch dinner tea etc that attracts the delegates. The session on Agriculture and Pissiculture being post lunch sessions found most of the delegates asleep in the nearly two thirds empty auditorium for the second day going. Even the Minister for Agriculture could not avoid an yawn and a drowsy look because presentations on scampi fresh water prawns and fish in Goa by Dr Subramanian of ICAR & Deptt of Fisheries was full with technicalites not required at this presentation . The 555 kms of riverine in the state do provide good scope for fish industry in the state. Bio Technology related agriculture too was boring . . But the need for a Fish meal plant in Goa sure caught the attention of many. Poor quality of sardines results in fish meal being prepared and sold to neighbouring states but they are dried on beaches along the 104 kms coastline and attract a lot of poor migrants who carry out these ecologicaly unfriendly jobs. They reside in the beach areas defeacate in the open and cause a nuisance. Therefore a fish meal plant in the organised sector is a must was what the speaker tried to convey. But what cheered the audience was the presentation by Miguel Braganza an ex employee of the Dept of Agriculture on wine making the simplistic presentation was well appreciated becuase its details were available on the NRI FC 3rd issue newsletter. One announcement made by Mr Braganza that raised eye brows was that in Coorg in Karnataka the Hindus were pork eaters. Yet another was that Australia started growing mangoes in 1986 and are now producing mango wines The presentation by Mr Mihir Vardhan the Director of Land settlement was excellent most of the land related matters can be solved if the Government sincerely attended to the requirements viz in amending the tenancy law the Communidade law and contract farming which if implemented envisages the contracting of land to others for cultivation without rights. That only 1,50,000 land was cultivable and 50,00,00 hectares fallow were the subject matter of protracted litigation being affected by tenancy was clear. Therefore if the Government is sincere they can eradicated this problem affecting every landowner in Goa -- when is the question. The presentation by Godrej Agrovet Ltd was good and here is a good opportunity for NRI NRGs to invest in the Aadhar scheme. The question answer session witnessed queries on availability of all the agro fisheries related presentations on the websites. A surprise delegate was Ribander based Advocate Aires Rodrigues NRIs and NRGs wondered how the advocate who staged a boycott remained like an obedient student at all the sessions and also partook in the inaugural of the paintings and photograph. He however took one speaker off guard Mr Bhangui a builder turned agronomist who made a presentation on food processing industry to be set up by him at Dhargal in Pernem Taluka near to the Mopa airport when he questioned the Secretary Agriculture what was the Government doing to check conversion of tenanted land by the builders now turned agronomists? One of the common refrain of the organisors was that they were running out of time -- this made short most of the sessions and the NRIs NRGs wondered whether this was all stage management only to get the point of view of the "chosen few" Tommorow session the penultimate day promises fireworks because the credibility of the Chief Minister on past assurances will be the highlight of the morning session before the conclusion of the session. Godfrey J I Gonsalves Borda Margao [EMAIL PROTECTED] ________________________________________________________________________ Yahoo! India Matrimony: Find your life partner online Go to: http://yahoo.shaadi.com/india-matrimony
