Betalbatim Civic & Consumer Forum meeting on Saturday,

Betalbatim Civic and Consumer Forum (BCCF) will have its monthly

meeting at 5.00pm on Saturday 2nd April 2011 at St.Jude's H. School,

Betalbatim. Besides the roundup of the utilities - Electricity, Water,

Telephones, LPG, Posts etc, medium of instruction, and the increased

frequency of fatal road accidents will be discussed along with other

consumer related problems.Consumers who have not yet done so may bring

their gas books for stamping.

Consumers of Betalbatim are invited to attend the meeting and

participate in the deliberations.

For Betalbatim Civic & Consumer Forum,

Xavier Cota

Convenor

(m) 9850101376

Groundwater Augmentation Award

PANAJI: Loyola High School, Margao, on Tuesday received the Groundwater Augmentation Award at the Third National Groundwater Congress in New Delhi organised to mark World Water Day.

“It is the first school in the country to receive this award,” Dinar Barros, promoter of the project, told The Hindu on telephone from New Delhi.

Mr. Barros paid rich tributes to agricultural scientist M.S. Swaminathan and to The Hindu for inspiring him to undertake groundwater augmentation activity.

He said that he acknowledged his debt to Dr. Swaminathan at the function in New Delhi.

About his project for the school of which he is an alumnus, Mr. Barros said it was taken up three years ago and the school saved around 55,000 litres of water which was used for daily activities such as gardening and sanitation, among others.

He acknowledged the cooperation of Principal of Loyola High School William D' Souza and Fr. Anthony Da Silva to implement the project successfully. The benefit of this rain-harvesting project had reached around 1,500 students and 64 teachers, administrative staff and residential faculty of the school, Mr. Barrosa said and hoped that this award would inspire other schools to take up such projects.

The project involves collecting water on the wide expanse of roof of the school buildings through different capacity storage tanks and using it for sanitation and gardening, thus saving drinking water in a big way.

Mr. Barros said: “Many people believe that we in Goa get so much rain that we simply do not seem to value water. I want to see a change in this mindset.”

Betalbatim Gram Sabha

The Betalbatim Gram Sabha which was moderately attended was largely peaceful without much of acrimonious arguments.In deference to the suggestions put forward at the previous Gram Sabha, the minutes and the budget proposals were circulated to members of the Gram Sabha before the meeting.

 In response to a query, the Sarpanch stated that they had received a water testing kit and the panchas had already been instructed to make a survey in their respective wards of all wells (public and private)and ponds, after which the work of testing of all water bodies in the village will commence.

In response to another query, the Sarpanch confirmed that the panchayat has a valid subscription to the Government Gazette and they were available for reference to any member of the Gram Sabha.

It was also confirmed that a file of all circulars received from the government was available for inspection. When pressed about the important circulars received, the Gram Sabha was told that one of them contained instructions that henceforth all construction plans were to be sent directly to the TCP and would come to the panchayat after all the clearances. Members were up in arms and immediately, it was unanimously resolved that all construction plans should be routed through the panchayat first as was the practice. It was further resolved that a copy of the resolution be forwarded to the TCP and the minister as also the local MLA. 

The Sarpanch assured agitated members that it was aware of the nuisance caused by a commercial piggery-cum garbage collection centre and was taking steps to solve the problem. The Sarpanch also informed that a new transformer would soon come up in Chaul ward as the ground work was complete.

The medium of instruction issue too figured and it was unanimously resolved that the Education Dept be urged to give grants for primary education in English whilst insisting that Konkani the sole official language of Goa be made compulsory from Std I to SSCE. Copies of the resolution were to be sent to the Education Dept, the CM and the local MLA.   

Ordinary Gram Sabha of Village Panchayat Betalbatim

The long-delayed Ordinary Gram Sabha of Village Panchayat Betalbatim will be held at 9.30am on Sunday 20th March 2011at Dr. Jose Cota Memorial Hall, Betalbatim . Four such ordinary Gram Sabhas are to be held in a year, but Betalbatim is notorious for defaulting. Since the higher authorities - The BDO and Directorate of Panchayats are least bothered, local bodies get away with such defaults.

Democracy entails staying engaged with our governing bodies consistently, no matter how corrupt and ineffective we perceive these institutions to be.

We therefore appeal to all villagers resident in Betalbatim to attend the Gram Sabha. We request those presently out of Goa, to phone or email their parents & siblings in Goa to attend and actively participate in the deliberations, because a Gram Sabha is a microcosm of the Legislative Assembly and Parliament. The people we have elected - the Panchas are accountable to us the voters at these Gram Sabhas. Please utilise the opportunity and do not fall prey to despondency and apathy. We can collectively make a difference.

Warm regards from the team of

Betalbatim Civic & Consumer Forum

Xavier Cota

Convenor

Gram Sabha on 20th March 2011

Chaka Chak

Chaka Chak Goa -Republic Day cleanup

Monthly Meeting on 5th March 2011

The Monthly Meeting of the Forum as usual, was held on the first Saturday of the month on 5th March 2011 at St. Jude's H. School, Betalbatim, Goa.Since there were several burning issues, there was a stronger than usual attendance. An action plan was adopted to tackle the issues.