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Lining Up for Freebies By Ervell E Menezes The Goa People’s Congress Party (GPCP) continues to survive with Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) support and Chief Minister Francisco Sardinha may well reach a year in government. Newspaper ads proclaim Goa and his achievements but which politician does not use the newspapers and periodicals to wax eloquent. And of course there is no dearth of chamchas to trumpet their virtues. The more suspect they are, the greater the praise because one has to pay for these ads. What they don’t realise (the politicians, that is) is the fact that it is the chair they worship, not the man. But the real reason the Sardinha Government is still in power is because the Congress, that is the original Congress of M. K. Gandhi, is even more divided. In fact, there are so many fragments of the Congress in Goa you won’t find anywhere else in India. And it surely isn’t a quality worth emulating. The newspapers continue to carry the mud-slinging of all and sundry — accusations and counter-accusations, you wouldn’t know whom to believe, all quite harmless and mere fodder for the journalistic mill. Yes, I saw a headline reading “CM okays plan to contain Sinquerim oil spillage.” As though that is news. If the CM didn’t do so, it would make news. And are these great decisions he is taking. They are to be taken by the bureaucrats, not him. There are technical men or experts in various fields who have to do this. What they fail to point out is why was the tanker lying idle for three months. Because of the rough seas, I am told. If there was a crore (Kaun Banega Crorepati) hidden in it, wouldn’t there have been a mad rush to get to the tanker, rough sea or not. Until recently Sardinha used to keep to his word but recently he seems to be going back on that too. At one time he said the government was not sending a team to the World Tourism Mart (WTM) in London, but recently he has made a statement that they would. May be he feels if he is to lose his Chief Minister’s chair he might as well go to the WTM and lose it. What a sad state of affairs where everyone lines up for freebies. And what do we do _ Talk about it at dinners or in the sala de jantaars with friends, quite often with the tainted folks among the guests. Action _ Leave that to lesser mortals who have the time and inclination for that. Why even newspapers are becoming marketing products. For four days in a row a leading newspaper dropped the Op-ed page because of a full page ad. Can you believe that _ It is an important page, next only to page 1 and the edit page but they think the income generated from an ad is more important. The same newspaper has not sent its representative to cover the Sydney Olympics. They don’t want to “waste money,” it is believed. And journalism was once considered a mission _ If the leader does that what do you expect the followers. If salt loses it savour, wherewith shall it be salted _ No wonder there is an overall deterioration in the quality of life. Walking along the waterfront in Panjim, near Dempo House, around high noon one day I saw a white Esteem (at least I think it was, not being familiar with the makes of these new cars) straddle the divider. How did it manage to get there was amazing. It had to be an incompetent driver to achieve such a “miracle.” A policeman came on the scene but quickly vanished, didn’t want to be embarrassed. Some women got out of the car and tried to lift the car back on the right side. The car number was GAO A-5923. It is obvious today that folks have more money than brains. But the point is nobody even tried to help them (myself included). That the government is taking action against stray cattle is surely heartening. Also fining them Rs 500 is a good thing. We hope it continues and the system is effective. But the problem at times is catching them. As a wag said “they should be sending the cops to Texas where they could learn to throw a lasso, but if a free trip is going it will be a Minister who would opt to go, learn the art and then come back to Goa to teach the cops.” After all, freebies and Ministers go together. Don’t they_ Questions or Comments_ Please write to us at:
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