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RP to be kept open for scrutiny in July
TEAM HERALD GOA NEWS
PANJIM: Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar said he would keep the Regional Plan open in the first week of July for allowing each village to plan for their own development akin to the Swedish model of plebiscite.
He said that there would be clearly defined development models for villages to choose, subject to safeguards which would allow State projects to be out of the purview of village development.
“Let the village as a whole decide. If a village is of 3,000 people and only 30 attend a gram sabha, that does not represent the village. There should be at least 75 per cent,” Parrikar said adding that this and other guidelines would be issued for rectifying the regional plan.
The issue of the ‘rectification’ of the regional plan or drawing up a new one was one of the issues that the BJP had promised in the run up to the elections, and had made into an election issue.
However, having completed a year and three months in government, Parrikar has yet to begin reviewing the plan, inviting criticism from civil society groups, who accused him of delaying the plan, even as other development proposals, many of them large projects were being cleared, in the absence of a comprehensive plan for the State.
BUFFER ZONE: Parrikar on Thursday said that the fate of the 28 mines that fall within the one km buffer zone around wildlife sanctuaries, is yet to be decided.
“What is to be done with the existing mines that fall within one kilometre of the buffer zone is to be decided,” Parrikar said.
He said that buffer zone would be site-specific as well as subject to natural geographical boundaries.
“The Dr Salim Ali Bird Sanctuary will have a 100m buffer zone,” Parrikar said adding further, “If there is a river within the one kilometre, the river will be the border.”
The issue of buffer zones is a long-pending debate with the Ministry of Environment and Forests decreeing a 10km buffer zone around all wildlife sanctuaries in the absence of any State demarcation of buffer zones. The government effort is to rectify that.
‘Contractors shy away since roadworks are more lucrative’
MARGAO: An official of Goa State Infrastructure Development Corporation (GSIDC), which is responsible for maintaining and upgrading school buildings, disclosed that though a tender was floated for repair and upgradation of Salcete government primary and middle schools, they did not get any bidder.
The GSIDC official, Mr Sandeep Chodankar claimed, “We had clubbed Salcete and Mormugao talukas under one package for repair of schools. Despite calling for bids on three occasions, no bid was made. We have now decided to separately invite bids for upgrading Salcete and Mormugao school buildings.”
According to the GSIDC official, the Corporation would be engaging a consultant, who would be monitoring the works. A fund of ` 12 crore would be allotted to upgrade government primary schools and government medium schools of the state and in next two years, the state would see upgradated and well-maintained government schools, he added.
When questioned over the reason for contractors’ lack of interest to upgrade schools, Mr Chodankar, in a lighter vein, said that there are less building contractors and more road contractors in Salcete.
NT Network Goa News
Minor girl kidnapped in Taleigao
PANAJI: A resident of Taleigao has filed a complaint with the Panaji police that her 15-year-old daughter has been kidnapped by associates of an individual, in an attempt to weaken an earlier kidnapping case in which he is an undertrial.
The earlier kidnapping case, incidentally, involves the same minor girl.
Police are investigating the case but girl is yet to be rescued from kidnappers.
Police said that the kidnapping took place on Monday while the parents were away. Minor girl was at home along with her brother at home, police said when the mother came back from work at around 3 pm and inquired about the daughter, brother told her that she has gone out.
Police said mother thought that her daughter must have gone to meet her friend or at neighbour’s place, but when the girl did not return at night, the mother got suspicious and started searching. After she failed to trace her daughter, mother on Wednesday lodged the complaint, police said.
In her complaint, she said that she suspected associates of Rasul Shaikh who is an undertrial at Sada Jail to be behind the kidnapping.
Victim mother said that that her daughter is kidnap with the motive to weaken the pending trial case against the accused. One year back police had arrested Shailk for kidnapping same minor girl and then girl was rescued.
Police has registered the case under IPC Section 363 and Section 8 of Goa Children’s Act.
TOI Goa News
PM sounds positive on Goa mining issue, says Parrikar
PANAJI: The Chief Minister, Mr Manohar Parrikar has said the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, has directed the officials of the Union environment and forests and mining ministries to seat across with Goa state officials to find an early solution to the mining issue in the Supreme Court, so that legal mining could start at earliest.
Addressing a press conference at the ministerial block on Thursday on his return from New Delhi, Mr Parrikar said the Prime Minister showed keen interest on the issue and it appeared to him from the body language of Dr Singh on the issue was quite positive.
“He also enquired with central officials about the issue when the all-party Goan delegation met him,” stated Mr Parrikar.
The Chief Minister also said the Prime Minister told him to take up the issue of one-time financial assistance with the Finance Minister, Mr P Chidambaram, and that he would discuss the matter with Mr Chidambaram during his next visit to New Delhi next week. The issue of non-performing assets of banks due to closure of mining was also raised during the 15-minute-long meeting, he stated.
Stating that the Prime Minister also told him that in view of resource crunch faced by the Union government in view of rupee meltdown and “recession” financial assistance could not be easily available, Mr Parrikar went on to add he could not meet Mr Chidambaram who had just returned to the national capital after a recent bereavement in his family.
He said that if the funds were made available than the same would be used to help those affected by closure of mining activity in the state, including those who now could be affected in view of finalisation of the buffer zone.
He said that Mr Francisco Pacheco could not be part of the all-party delegation because of prior commitments. The Chief Minister also stated that he has sought special powers for the state so as to enact a law to regulate sale of land to non-Goans and that the Prime Minister said the issue would be forwarded to the law ministry for its comment to see the viability of giving state government powers to enact a law. He also said that a Goa-specific law could not be made by the Centre.
He said that some of the solutions on the issue of land would be provided for when the Regional Plan was finalised, even as he said the state had powers to ensure ban on sale of agricultural land. A suitable legislation to that effect would be brought in the next session of assembly, he stated. He said the government was firm on 100 per cent ban on conversion of agricultural land.
Mr Parrikar said that solution to the vexed problems would come in due course of time, even as he said the state could adopt the Swiss model for determining development, especially as regards to residential and commercial areas in villages.
He also said that 90 per cent of school books would be made available by June 25, even as he went on to add that some of the schools had not been lifting the books saying that they would carry the books only when all the titles were made available. He said from next year onwards the books would be supplied through the shops as in the past and that the students would be given coupons for the same.
On the issue of increase in school hours by 30 minutes and opposition to it from certain quarters, he said that as per the law there should be full day school. He also said that those schools which do not have infrastructure could avail government scheme and funds to create the necessary infrastructure.
NT Network Goa News
‘Overprotective parents inhibit growth process’
There used to be an old adage about bringing up children: Spare the rod and spoil the kid. Except amongst the poorer sections, our new age society seems to have completely forgotten that adage, with today’s parents indulging their offspring’s every whims and fancy. With a Children’s Act in place, parents are just too scared to spank their children into behaving. It’s all about protecting children today. But can being too protective of children be a bad thing for the children?
Psychologist Marila Fernandes says, “Being protective is good but too much of a good thing always turns out to be bad. There are a lot of negative influences and situations that children face today. It’s natural for parents to be concerned about their safety. But sometimes they go overboard and cocoon their children in fear. With regards to health they may not let them play outdoors for fear of catching a cold or getting hurt, etc. Sometimes parents become over sensitive to their children’s needs providing everything before they can even ask for it. They also don’t like their children to experience any minor negative or stressful situation like a scolding from a teacher or fight with another child. In my experience and observation these overprotective parents are rare in Goa but their number is slowly growing. This is seen more in the metropolitan cities and people from higher income groups.
Stating that overprotective parents inhibit the growth process, Fernandes adds, “They have to understand that they will not always be there to protect their children, and soon they will be adults who will have to fend for themselves. It’s better if they teach their children how to cope with difficult situations and deal with problems positively rather than shielding them from reality. This of course depends on the age of the child. But if you are in sync with children, you will be surprised by how well they will guide you to help them become confident, achieving adults.”
Mathew Kurian of El Shaddai, a trust which runs schools for children from disadvantaged backgrounds, says making children independent is the key. “We encourage children to be strong and independent through our creative teaching methods. You should not be unduly critical if a child is not learning as he/she should. It’s important to know what they really want, what they really want to do, learn, and you should encourage the child to do that. Many of our students come from broken homes. We make sure they learn what is right and what is wrong, we teach them a few moral guidelines, like they should not do harm to others or cheat. We teach them that everybody is equal. The slogan of our school is ‘Learning to think through life’. More than teaching we are building a personality, building the character, individual thinking, more reasoning, more rationalizing, individuality,” he says.
Counsellor and clinical psychologist Anita Karambalkar says a number of factors are responsible for parents being overprotective these days. “The times have changed. I know of at least six parents who left their jobs after the Delhi rape incident so that they can be with their children all the time. Being protective is all context-based,” she says.
Karambalkar makes the distinction between three generations-that of our grandparents, our parents and the generation of today. “To really understand this generation, you have to look back at the last two generations. In our grandparents’ generation, opportunities were very few and families were very big. Even then parents were working, in fields, etc, because it was expected, while today’s working mother may work in an office. In the older generation the younger children would stay at home with the grandparents and become independent fast: They would learn to take baths on their own, fill up water if needed. Come to our parents’ generation. Families started getting smaller, women started getting employed, but the elder child was expected to look after the rest. The domestic help concept was not yet big. Today. if you don’t have a maid you’re looked down upon, it’s a bare necessity. Both the parents are out all day, so the child becomes a guest for them. Because they’ve not been with the child all day, the parents choose to give the child whatever he/she wants,” she says.
Karambalkar says parents also respond differently at different ages of their children, leading to confused personalities and misplaced protectionism. Giving an example, she says many parents, when the children are young, encourage them to dance western dances with skimpy clothes and raunchy music. But when their daughters reach their teens, they suddenly feel all that is not appropriate and try to force them to cover their bodies and not listen to raunchy music, leading to confusion among children.
It’s certainly a complex task, she agrees, to maintain a balance between being too protective and not affecting the child’s independence. “We need to teach them self-confidence and moral values. And let them live their lives. When parents say yes to everything their children want, when the children face the real world and get their first no, it can shatter the young adult’s confidence,” she says, adding, “Perhaps even irreparably.”
TOI Goa News
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