ONE LAKH TWENTY THOUSAND GOANS STRANDED WITHOUT DSS BENEFITS SINCE JUNE

 By Aires Rodrigues.

The Chief Secretary of Goa Mr. B.Vijayan has today been served a legal notice for non payment of Dayanand Social Security benefits since June this year to all the 1,20,000 beneficiaries. It has been demanded that all arrears to the beneficiaries be paid within 24 hours and thatfurther payments be made promptly on the first of every month.

The Dayanand Social Security scheme was launched by the Goa Governmentin 2001 as an initiative under “Freedom from Hunger” project. The beneficiaries which include 80,000 Senior Citizens, 30,000 widows and 10,000 disabled citizens are all without benefits from June this year despite this monthly monetary benefit being the only source of income and sustenance for these poor downtrodden beneficiaries.

This blatant wanton neglect of this poorest and unprivileged section of society is despicable and unjustified. The welfare and well being of the poorest should have been the paramount priority of any government. It is intriguing that the government despite being unable to pay benefits in time to these beneficiaries is contemplating other welfare schemes and also taking several populist decisions having afinancial impact. A clear paradox..Unless the government is able to adequately implement existing schemes, any attempt to launch otherwelfare schemes would be inappropriate and undesirable.

It is apparent that the 1,20,000 beneficiaries under the Dayanand Social Security Scheme have not been paid from June due to the financial crunch the State exchequer faces. It would be very appropriate for the government to adopt rigorous austerity measuresand stop squandering money on unnecessary expenditure.

All wasteful expenditure must stop. Unnecessarily 11 lakhs was spenton the swearing in ceremony of the current government held on 9th March. Lakhs are going down the drain on the four MLAs who are now on a joy ride to the United Kingdom at tax payer’s expense. All this while the Goa Government had no money to pay monthly benefits under the Dayanand Social Security scheme to the financially distressed Senior citizens, widows and the disabled

 Non payment of monthly benefits under the Dayanand Social Security scheme is surprising and reflects the sordid state of affairs. Inpublic interest it would be appropriate to move the Bombay High Courtat Goa for appropriate orders if immediate steps are not taken by theGoa Government to pay the DSS beneficiaries all the pending arrearsand further benefits on the first of every month.

TIATRO WRITER/DIRECTOR DY.S.P.SAMMY TAVARES FELICIATED.

Tiatro is in existence approximately since last 13 decades and currently it is going very strong. In Goa it is like a powerhouse, Tiatrists can now make or mar anybody in Goa. Clavert’s VCD two years back shook the Church and rattled the government machinery creating terror almost all over Goa. Earlier during the Portuguez rule in Goa, the mighty government of Bharat banned the entry of some political Tiatrists into Bombay for fear of the their songs against the invasion of Goa by Bharat.  Such was the fear of Tiatrists into the government machinery of the mighty Bharat.

Since the inception of Tiatro first initiated in Bombay by Lucazinho Ribeiro from Assagao, Bardez, lot of Tiatrists came and gone, some of them were of low grade while others of high grade but all of them entertained the audience. Among these Tiatrists there were singers and “partists” while others were script writers and directors.

Among script writers and directors were also those who belonged to different professions and vocations and not from the professional tiatrists category, namely Medical profession, Lawyers profession and Priestly vocation. Among priests come Fr. Freddy J. D’Costa, Fr. Planton Faria and Fr. Neville Verlekar; Mike Mehta comes from Lawyers profession and Dr. Simon Fernades from Medical profession.

However from the Police profession there was nobody till the arrival on the scene by the Dy. S.P. Sammy Tavares with his maiden Tiatro “APLEA BHURGEAM SANGATAK”. This Tiatro was already staged in Goa innumerable times and is still going on House Full. Within a short period it has created record in Goa.

A few days back this Tiatro was even staged in London and In Paris and according to the available information it was warmly received by the audience.

The Kuwait show will be staged on 28th of next month at The American International School, Maidan Hawally, starting exactly at 6.00 PM.

In appreciation of his monumental efforts to stage this Tiatro, the organisers of one Show of this Tiatro in Panjim, felicitated Dy. S.P. Sammy Tavares as seen in the photograph indicated above.

Along with him also felicitated the golden voiced singer and pretty looking Sonia Sirsat who is acclaimed as one of the best “Fado” singers in the world.

Fado is a sorrowful song in Portuguez normally accompanied by a musical instrument Guitar. "Adeus Korchea Vellar" is a Konkani form of Fado which Sonia Sirsat sings very beautifully. If she sings this both in Portuguez and in Konkani at the end of the show, the Konkani audience in Kuwait will know the beauty of Fado and also the beauty of Sonia Sirsat's voice and face.

A. Veronica Fernandes,

Kuwait.

IS THE GOA GOVERNMENT GONE BANKRUPT?

  By Aires Rodrigues.

 The current one lakh twenty thousand beneficiaries under the Dayanand Social Security Scheme have not received their monthly old age pension benefits since June this year.

This sorry state of affairs augments very badly for a government which is squandering money where not necessary and announcing populist schemes without being able to pay timely benefits to those needy beneficiaries.

The Dayanand Social Security scheme was launched in 2001 as an initiative under “Freedom from Hunger” project. How does the Chief Minister justify this wanton neglect of the poorest section of the community.

Good governance is about financial accountability which the Goa Government does not seem to care about. Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar should ensure fiscal accountability at all cost by ensuring that wasteful expenditure is curbed and that the State exchequer does not reach a point of bankruptcy where even the poor are kept starving without their old age pension benefits.