Evescape

Over 100 women from various fields ---journalists, writers, authors, teachers, lecturers, doctors, lawyers, engineers, home-makers,  researchers, farmers, social activists, policy experts, entrepreneurs, etc; penned a letter to the Chief Minisiter of Goa to express their anguish over the brutal rape and attempt to murder of a minor girl in the state, and called upon him to take action towards curbing such offences in the future.      Open letter to the Chief Minister Respected Dr. Pramod Sawant , We feel heavy hearted as we write to you today -- for having failed as a society to save our daughter from the dastardly sexual violence committed on her by a fellow Goan. The brutal rape and attempt to murder of our 13-year-old daughter has jolted our collective conscience. We fail to understand the mindset and the environment that creates individuals who become impulse governed monsters -- like the 23-year-old accused in this case. The unspeaka...

The Politics of Wholesale Defection  The recent political development in Goa wherein two thirds of the Congress Legislative Party merged with the ruling BJP to manipulate numbers, by abusing the lacunae in the Anti-defection Law, has led to the debate on re-visiting the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution. -------------------------------------------------- The unbridled somersaults by elected peoples' representatives in Goa perturbs every concerned citizen in the state. It is in the event of the recent political development though -- wherein the lacuna in the Anti-defection Law was absolutely abused and manipulated -- that stakeholders have once again started to express their concern about the ineffectiveness of the law. Frequent defections made a mockery of the party system and made the electoral system vulnerable to frequent and unnecessary elections which inevitably cost a significant amount to the exchequer, thus necessitating the framing of an adequate anti-d...

Wasted Efforts on Waste Management  Insufficient infrastructure, weak planning and information systems, and an altogether unorganized and flawed waste management system has become a burgeoning problem for the Margao Municipal Council (MMC) to ensure effective and sustainable management of waste, especially in the event of the tension prevailing at the Sonsoddo landfill. Pushed to the wall by Fomento Green -- the concessionaire of the solid waste management plant, the MMC has once again raised its pitch on segregation at source, putting the onus on the citizens, before making any changes at the institutional level, even as experts opine that segregation at source cannot be achieved without a working waste management policy in place, and unless authorities engage with citizens seeking community participation . Pressing the need for an organised campaign with the active involvement of ward councillors and civic body officials, Clinton Vaz , an expert in waste managemen...

                                         Gender  stereotypes  in the media  While working with the Goa edition of a national daily, I once had an heated argument with the resident editor for not including voices and opinions of women in news articles on current affairs. Though women's opinions were sought on gender issues, their voices did not matter in the fields of politics, development, finance or economy. Most views came from men thus projecting them as the only thought influences. The fact that there was under-representation of women in news as news-makers, sources of news, news analysts or as experts hugely dissapointed me. Since the media plays an important role in perpetuating or challenging cultural and societal norms, depiction of gender stereotypes in the media influences how society perceive women. As I sought redressal, I realised that the ...

A toilet story With Goa missing ODF deadline twice, it is a worrying situation that a lauded policy like the Swacch Bharat Mission almost never come to fruition on the ground, even in a village like Cola, specifically “adopted” by a parliamentarian.  Ghanne is a ward of the Cola village, in down south Quepem Taluka. The popular Adinath temple is located in this ward. Some 300 people live here. Saraswati Velip, 80 something is the face of the story of this ward. With not a single household toilet, the entire village defecates in the open. In the evening of her life, Saraswati's only wish is to see a toilet in her house. "Iam tired of walking long distance to relieve myself. In my young days, things were better and we never felt bad about defecating in the open. There was lot os vegetation and the population was less. Now things have changed. With education and awareness, there is lot of discomfort doing the routine. The younger women and girls are worst hit by the lack...

Looming water crises in the village of Cola (Khola), Goa   Sisters Mayawati and Chandravati Velip are residents of Matvem, one of the seven wards in the jurisdiction of the Cola panchayat. Both are members of a mahila mandal comprising of 23 members and run a humble eatery in the area. What irks them is the acute water crises faced by villagers. Leela Velip is another member of the Adinath mahila mandal, and a resident of Govonn which faces chronic water shortage. More wards, including Saleri,  Cajumoll, Kudai, Ambdem, Ghanne, Govol and Cabo De Rama too are affected by the dry spell. The most affected ward due to water shortage is Matvem which has a polulation of some 1200 people, the sisters informed. Paucity of water resources in several wards of Cola village has assumed chronic nature with residents flaying the authorities for failing to redress the problem. The village grapples with water paucity, throughout the year, but face acute crises in the months starting F...