--------------------------------------------------------------------------- **** Annual Goanetters Meet **** ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Annual Goanetters Meet - January 3, 2012 - 12:30 - 2pm Tourist Hostel, near the Old Secretariat, Panaji (Panjim) Planning to attend? Send an email to eve...@goanet.org with contact details --------------------------------------------------------------------------- PEOPLE’S EDIT -- OHeraldo, Dec 31, 2011 What’s in store for Goa? Eugene Correia The best of the Christmas tidings for Goa was the announcement of the elections in March 2012. It wasn't a surprise as the formal notice of this once- in five- years charade was on the cards. So, one of the surest things to happen in the new year is that the state will get a chance to either elect the same government or a new one. The RP 2020 will dominate the public discourse and increase the decibel of rumbling ranging from critics to village panchayats to social activists; the Shah Commission report on illegal mining will appear and disappear from the newspages of Goan papers; the proposed taxation law on “ non- occupancy” of homes may cause anxiety; cleaning beaches of drug and sex rackets; boosting clean tourism; and, lastly, the ever- nagging issue of preserving the wholesome identity of Goans from an onslaught by migrants, will be inevitable in 2012. It would be a hard lesson to understand and decipher the manifestoes of the political parties. Political pundits will have to use a magnifying glass to read between the lines. However, these manifestoes are just meaningless papers once the election is over. They are consigned to the political dustbin. When the elected party is reminded of what it said in its manifesto, the party bigwigs and those occupying ministerial chairs turn a deaf ear. The Goan electorate must do a great deal of soul- searching to be sure the candidates they elect are not going to act as clowns, jumping up and down in a circus that Goan politics has turned into. They need to choose astute leaders or atleast give newcomers display they have some merit a chance to represent them. It is a gamble the Goan voters need to take. Churchill, Mickky and Babush are going to face rivals that their respective constituents must consider before casting their ballots. Goans should make a collective resolution to clean the Augean stable of politics by sending the rotten politicians to pasture in the wastelands of Goa. These scoundrels have converted Goa into “ badland” of corruption, loot and social discordance. Goa’s future is at stake at this crucial time when the state embarks on the next 50 years of Liberation. However optimist one can be, a cursory look at the political class, particularly those who are aiming to run in the elections, does not protend well for Goa. What would be the state’s fate if the “ family class” candidates come into the august house as elected MLAs? Goa will be held to ransom by these toughie MLAs and their progenies and/or wives. The die is cast. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Protect Goa's natural beauty Support Goa's first Tiger Reserve Sign the petition at: http://www.goanet.org/petition/petition.php ---------------------------------------------------------------------------