-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------It is amusing to read the Herald news item dated 11.5.2015 that farmland in our country has decreased although the yield of crop has partially increased as stated by a agricultural officer Ragunath Joshi at a GSBB meeting.
After reading the above news I tried to contact several members of the board, to apprise myself about the details of this lecture and to get further information about the state of health of Goa Biodiversity. Sadly and shockingly except for one newspaper in which the news appeared nobody from the general public as well as press in general seems to know anything about the said Biodiversity meeting. I wonder whether only the Chairman of GSBB Mrs Alina Saldanha and her Member –Secretary Mr. Nitin Sawant were the only two persons in the know-how of this meeting. Since it appears from my inquiries that the other board members were totally in the dark about this lecture, which I think was of importance to the society in general. I strongly feel that the funds allocated to GSBB which is about 3 to 4 lakhs each year towards Biodiversity Day celebrations in Goa and information dissemination is not appropriately utilized to serve the people of Goa .Very often out station experts are invited and hosted only with the purpose of receiving reciprocal favors and trips to other states for which only the Chairperson and the member-secretary seek reciprocal privileges at the cost of other board members and the people of Goa who get nothing from the funds allocated and spent by the GSBB? I call upon the CM and the Goa Government to institute a vigilance inquiry and ensure that the funds spent by the Biodiversity Board are properly audited and accounted for. For instance why is there no Annual report for several years? The Parrikar Government when it assumed office in 2012 had promised zero tolerance to corruption and accountability. There seems to be no accountability at GSBB. The cat will be out of the bag only if Parsekar Government institute an enquiry committee and come out with facts regarding appointments and frequent dismissals of staff at the board as well as other irregularities to give credibility to the people concerns as voiced by me in this letter. -------------------------- E.C.A. DIAS Retired as TO (E-1) Former Scientist A-1 and Leader of GOD/INSTRUMENTATION Group CSIR- National Institute of Oceanography Dona Paula-Goa 403004 Email: steve.dia...@gmail.com Tel" 0832-2452915 ( Res) Mob: (0) 9422443110