Panaji, December 19, 2012 …. Dy. Chief Minister Shri Francisco D’Souza unfurled the National Tricolor  and inspected the Parade  on the occasion of Goa Liberation Day celebrations at a function held at the Govt. Complex, Mapusa, today.

The function was attended by the Minister for Art and Culture, Shri Dayanand Mandrekar,  Shri. Michael V. Lobo, MLA, Shri Sudhir kandolkar, Chairperson  of Mapusa Municipal Council and Freedom Fighters.

Speaking on the occasion the Dy. Chief Minister Shri. Francisco  D’Souza paid rich tributes to the memory of the Freedom Fighters who laid down their lives for the Liberation of Goa. He said, Goa has made notable achievements in all fields of human endeavours.

Speaking further Shri D’Souza said, the students should be made known about the history of Goa’s freedom struggle  so that they could draw inspiration to  contribute towards the prosperity of the state.

Earlier, Shri D’Souza, Shri  Mandrekar and Shri. Michael Lobo on their arrival at the venue of the function were received by Shri. Sabaji Shetye, Dy. Collector and Shri. Pundalik Khorjuvenkar, Mamlatdar.

Panaji, December 19, 2012 …. MLA and Chairman  of Goa Housing board Shri. Glenn Souza Ticlo commissioned the 300m3 Ground Level Reservoir  at a total cost of Rs. 48 lakhs under the scheme of improvement of water supply  on the occasion of Goa Liberation Day  at Quitla  in  Aldona, today.

The water supply  scheme is to supply  potable drinking water  in Quitla, besides it will also improve water supply in the areas of  Ranoi, Goncoi, Coimwadao which are suffered  water scarcity during summer season.

The function was attended by Smt. Ujwala Kandolkar, Sarpanch, Charudatta  Panjikar, Dy. Sarpanch, Shri.  Kamaldini, Executive Engineer, PWD Water Supply, Shri Vilas Tamboskar, Asstt. Engineer, Panchayat members and prominent citizens.

Panaji, December 18, 2012 …. The Goa State will celebrate 51^st anniversary of its liberation from colonial rule on December 19, 2012.  The main function will be held at Parade Ground, Campal, Panaji where the Chief Minister Shri Manohar Parrikar will unfurl the national tri colour at 9.15 a.m., review  the parade, take the salute and later address the people of Goa.  He will also present awards to those who have excelled in different sectors on the occasion.

The function will be attended by Speaker Shri Rajendra Arlekar, Cabinet Ministers, Leader of the opposition Shri Pratapsingh Rane, Dy. Speaker Shri Anant Shet,  MP’s, MLA’s, Judges of High Court, Ld. Advocate General and other dignitaries.

On his arrival at the venue of the function the Chief Minister will be received by Minister for Tourism Shri Dilip Parulekar, Chief Secretary Shri B. Vijayan and Director General of Police.

To commemorate the Liberation Day Raj Bhavan, Dona Paula, Old Secretariat, Panaji, New Secretariat, Porvorim and Directorate of Accounts building, Panaji will be illuminated.  Mass P.T. Drill and singing of National Anthem by School children will be held.

To mark the occasion several programmes have also been planned throughout the day.  On Liberation Day at 9.15 a.m.,  the flag hosting ceremony at Margao will be performed by Minister for Labour Shri Avertano Furtado.

At Ponda, Minister for P.W.D. Shri Sudin Dhavalikar will unfurl the national flag.

Similarly, flag hoisting ceremonies will be performed by

Dy. Chief Minister Shri Francis D’Souza at Mapusa,

Minister for Power Shri Milind Naik at Vasco,

Shri Subhash Faldessai, MLA at Sanguem,

Minister for Sports Shri Ramesh Tawadkar at Canacona,

Minister for Health Shri Laxmikant Parsekar at Pernem,

Dy. Speaker Shri Anant Shet at Valpoi,

Shri Nilesh Cabral, MLA at Quepem,

Dr. Pramod Sawant, MLA at Bicholim

Shri Ganesh Gaonkar, MLA, at Dharbandora.

Panaji, December 18, 2012 …. Shri Ramkrishna(Sudin) Dhavlikar, Minister for Public Works Department said the sanitary requirements of the households, Schools and Colleges and Anganwadis would be fulfilled/improved by constructing community toilets.  He asked the schools managements to approach respective engineers with the proposals.

Shri Ramkrishna(Sudin) Dhavlikar was speaking after inaugurating the Block Level Workshop on Nirmal Bharat Abhiyan organized by the Public Works Department at Curchorem, today.

Stating that the government has declared the year 2013-14 as the sanitation year, he said, the government is committed to provide water supply 24×7 and also improve the store capacity of the people to a minimum 1000 ltrs. Taking the census figures of 2001 with a population of 14.00 lakhs, he said the total requirement of 550 MLD per day for households, industries and allied activities can be easily delivered with filtered water.

Shri Dhavlikar also urged people to report water leakages to the local office to avoid revenue loss.

Pointing out that the people have changed the concept of Storm Water Drains by leaving their household waste water into it, the PWD Minister emphasized the need to refrain from this practice forthwith. The government will construct soak pits for those who cannot afford to undertake the same. This

would be beneficial to every individuals advantage in keeping away water bound diseases, he remarked.

Extending his greetings to the people on the 51st Liberation Day in advance and recalling the sacrifices made by the freedom fighters to liberate the State from the Portuguese colonial rule, Shri Dhavlikar urged upon the people to take a pledge on what every individual needs to do, to take Goa forward and making it a model State.

Several experts, resource personnel and representatives of the NGO’s discussed, deliberated and guided on Health and Sanitation and Solid and Liquid Waste Management topics at the workshop with presentations attended by Sarpanchas and Panch members of Quepem Block, NGO’s, Headmasters, Mukhiya Sevikas, Anganwadi Workers, Health Workers, Gram Sevaks, Engineers, etc.

Nirmal Bharat Abhiyan envisages covering the entire community for saturated outcomes with a view to create Nirmal Gram Panchayat with provisions for individual household latrine to both BPL and identified Above Poverty Line within Gram Panchayats; sanitation facilities in government schools and Anganwadis; Solid and Liquid Waste Management for proposed and existing Nirmal Grams.  The objective of Nirmal Bharat Abhiyan is to accelerate the sanitation coverage in the rural areas so as to comprehensively cover the rural community through renewed strategies and saturation approach of the country.

Shri Chandrakant(Babu) Kawlekar, MLA; Shri Narendra Sawaikar, Chairman, Law Commission and Shri Manuel Barretto, BDO, Quepem also spoke on the occasion. Smt. Patricia Fernandes, Chairperson, CCMC and Shri Kushali Velip, ZP member were also present.

Shri Dataprasad J.S. Borkar, Chief Engineer –I, PWD welcomed while Shri S.M. Dhond, Superintendent Engineer, PWD proposed the vote of thanks on the occasion.

Panaji, December 18, 2012 …. …Children’s Rights in Goa (CRG) and the Department of Women and Child Development (DWCD) jointly organized a consultation on Children and the Law – the Effectiveness of Juvenile Justice (Care & Protection of Children) Act and the Goa Children’s Act in Goa on 13^th and 14^th December 2012. The Keynote Address was delivered by Nina Nayak, member of National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR). She emphasized the need of convergence between different child protection authorities to ensure the best interests of the child; the need for the State Commission, the CWCs and the JJBs to exercise their authority in order to protect children and to examine the specific needs of each child.

Chief Guest, Samira Kazi, Chairperson of the Goa State Commission for Protection of Child Rights (GSCPCR) narrated how the State Commission has been trying to ensure that Village Child Committees are set up in every village. She also stated that the Commission would try to ensure that the JJ Act and GCA are implemented effectively in Goa.

Director Sunil Masurkar represented the Directorate of Women and Child Development. Fr Antony Sebastion, former member of the Bangalore JJB, said that children in conflict with law were directed to participate in community service – visiting the home for the aged, taking care of gardens and parks – This was found to be an effective means of reforming children and enabled them to become productive members of society. Vasudeva Sharma, former member of the Karnataka State Commission and of the Child Welfare Committee, described how the CWC had played a proactive role in the rescue and rehabilitation of child labour.

Others who spoke at the Consultation were DySP Umesh Gaonkar, JJB member Janette Dias, CWC member Lida Joao, Childline Coordinator Sr Prudencia Vaz; Dy Director of Tourism Pamela Mascarenhas, ARZ representative Juliana Lohar, Former Headmistress Irene Cardoso, Hon’ble Judge Anuja Prabhudesai; PP Poonam Bharne;  Adv Albertina Almeida; child member of the Village Child Committee (VCC) Morjim – Shreya Fadte and Siolim VCC member- Teacher Kashmiri and CRG members.

Some of the issues that were raised at the Consultation were the need for:

§        Setting up of Special Juvenile Police Units

§        Setting up of a Children’s Unit in the Institute of Psychiatry and Human Behaviour and to avoid admitting children into the adult ward

§        Introducing community service as an alternative to detaining children in the Children’s Home

§        The Children’s Court to sit on a regular basis to prevent delays in justice

§        Victims’ Assistance Units be set up urgently by the government

§        Child Protection Policy to be adopted by all children’s homes and child care institutions

§        Promotion of child friendly tourism

§        Village and City Child Committees to be set up