Burp-worthy feast

Living to eat -8

The Last Supper
This is the last in the series and I assure there won't be on encore because I am moving on to more meaty things, like the shenanigans elsewhere. So, keep watching this space. It was fun determining whether our montris live to eat or eat to live, except of course for the many trips to the Secretariat only to find the official not in his/her seat and for the keying in of all those exhaustive details. My fingers still hurt and it only increased the chances of my getting carpel tunnel syndrome. But don't thank me -thank Sonia Gandhi whose idea it was to give Indians the only weapon (The Right To Information Act) we have to fight back, because we still haven't learnt how to use the ballot box to benefit us.

BS Bhalla, chief electoral officer
15.09.04 dinner for BB Tandon, EC Goa Marriott Rs13,310
15.12.04 dinner for Delimitation Commission Goa Marriott Rs32,260

Debashree Mukherjee, IAS
14.02.04 lunch, World Bank, water and sanitation programme Cidade Rs5,654
07.09.04 lunch for KN Bhandari, Universal Medical Scheme Goa Marriott Rs2,504
20.10.04 dinner for Delhi officials Goa Marriott Rs2,953
01.04.05 dinner for MCI inspectors Cidade Rs29,570
22.08.05 dinner for Japan International Co-operation Agency no details Rs13,526
30.09.05 dinner for SK Arora, secy, GOI Goa Marriott Rs6,207

LS Shetty, law secretary
04.06.04 lunch for SR Das, Dept of Information Technology, Delhi Mandovi Rs2,475
18.06.04 lunch for law officers of different States Mandovi Rs6,427

Ashwani Kumar, secretary (vigilance)
08.04.04 dinner for KL Ahuja, Sandesh Mehta, Central Vigilance Commission Mandovi Rs1,261
28.09.05 dinner for SB Bonde, Shilamoth Jadhav Prof Yashada Mandovi Rs5,072

Atmaram Nadkarni, Adv. General
24.07.04 lunch for seminar on effective defence in Govt Goa Marriott Rs41,260.

Amit Yadav, secretary (agriculture)
12.08.04 dinner for Ram Pratap Singh, ICAR Nova Goa Rs6,260
01.10.04 dinner Agriculture & Horticulture Produce Conference Nova Goa Rs6,995.

Secretary Mines
23.08.05 dinner for Expert Committee (Mining) GOI Foodland Rs15,871.

Dharmendra Sharma, commissioner & secretary
11.08.05 dinner for RBI official Moti Mahal Rs4,725
12.10.06 dinner for ex-Dy PM, Bulgaria O'Coqueiro Rs11,284
11.10.06 dinner for Minister, GOI O'Coqueiro Rs11,762
18.11.05 dinner for ICAR Santa Monica and Shetye Caterers/Circuit House Rs16,500+57,000

SK Jain, commissioner & secretary
31.08.05 dinner for visiting IAS officers Goa Marriott Rs25,418
04.09.05 dinner for Neelam Sawhney jt secy, GOI Cidade Rs10,855

Santosh Vaidya, secretary
15.09.05 lunch for education secy, GOI Goa Marriott Rs6,777
12.06.06 dinner for secy, WCD, Maharashtra Ronil Rs7,626
23.10.06 dinner for visiting IAS officers Majestic Rs20,807
09.03.07 dinner chairman, National Trust Cidade Rs28,921

UK Worah, secretary
06.12.05 lunch for Yashada, Pune Mandovi Rs7,266
14.11.05 dinner for young US politicians Goa Marriott Rs15,210 (on the same day Rane spent Rs63,000 for the same cause at Fort Aguada.)

RP Pal
30.11.05 dinner for Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy officer Goa Marriott Rs27,533.
29.06.06 dinner for director, Ministry of Consumer Affairs Delhi Darbar Rs19,800.

M. Modassir
02.10.07 dinner for Ministry of Agriculture advisors Cidade Rs47,135.

Ramesh Negi, finance secy
16.06.06 lunch for Planning Commission Majorda Beach Resort Rs11,025.
09.02.07 lunch for all secretaries, Evaluation Committee, Member for International Connection Centre Goa Marriott Rs20,081
03.06.07 dinner for Election Commission observers Cidade Rs36,823
06.06.07 dinner for EC observers Barcolento Rs75,080

Anand Prakash, development commissioner
25.04.07 dinner for MCI inspectors Mandovi Rs20,902
16.05.07 dinner for MCI inspectors Mandovi Rs18,804
13.07.07 lunch for Autonomous Management Committee Goa Marriott Rs7,858
27.12.07 lunch for committee for restoration of Santa Anne's Church, Talaulim Cidade Rs6,265

The GOVERNMENT'S FOODBILL THUS FAR:
Digambar Kamat Rs 36,47,744
Pratapsing Rane Rs 39,72,941
Manohar Parrikar Rs 12,05,515
Vishwajit Rane Rs 84,788
Alexio Sequeira Rs 1,03,590
Luizinho Faleiro Rs 2,69,900
Micky Pacheco Rs 2,37,426
Subhash Shirodkar Rs 3,69,207
Atanasio Monserrate Rs 31,310
Joaquim Alemao Rs. 3,82,028
Suresh Amonkar Rs 1,07,879
Pandurang Madkaikar Rs 17,319
Ravi Naik Rs 1,64,376
Ramkrishna Dhavlikar Rs 1,19,660
Jose Philip D'Souza Rs 1,13,515
Filipe Neri Rodrigues Rs 23,820
Dayanand Mandrekar Rs 12,480
J P Singh, IAS Rs 16,61,290
DS Negi, IAS Rs 4,25,683
Vijay Madan, IAS Rs 58,223
Kiran Dhingra, IAS Rs 1,54,375
JK Dadoo Rs 2,53,271
Add above Rs 7,07,062

Total Rs 1,41,23,402
Period researched is April 2004 to 2007.

C for Development, D for Churchill
Do I contrive to change the spelling of development, not exactly, just trying to put it in Churchill's perspective. He is after all, the only Congress politician who still insists Goans breathe only to oppose development. Let's take a single example of such development, in rural Tivim. Not that urban Vasco, Margao and most of Panjim have even basic infrastructure like a sewerage system or enough potable water. A Mumbai builder Expat Properties (how appropriate!) has begun building 32 duplex flats on 8,000 sq mt land sold by Anthony Lobo and his clan of fortunate inheritors. While EP's plans may be legitimate and within Goa's archaic planning framework, this huge complex will only add to the concrete jungle spreading over Goa, diminish the diminishing greenery, spoil Goa's natural character and only make Goans more chary of the fact they no longer can afford real estate in their own land. Which is why Bodiem is opposing it.

For them it's not a question of controlled ODP's, or building rules and regulations, it's a question of leaving Bodiem entirely out of the realm of the real estate sharks who are going to build whichever way anyway, rule and regulations be damned. It was Dhirubhai Ambani remember who coined the word "management" and put it to maximum use. They know no ODP, rule or regulation, will come to their aid because they know the government does not have the machinery to enforce any rule or regulation nor, does it have the political will to do so. Gutka, smoking in public places, urinating, drug use, rape, murder –there is very little that is not banned in fact- but look around you. Even High Court verdicts are not enforced.

Back to Bodiem village in VP Sircaim where the sarpanch Diksha Kanolkar's role is definitely suspect. Villagers fear water from the huge swimming pool will be released into the earth along with its chemical disinfectants, so will sewerage waste. And where will the water from the pool come from? Already, EP began to dig a borewell without permission of the VP (so much for regulatory systems.) It has shown 35 car parks for the 32 duplex flats but in a straight line, with no direct access to the exiting road against the existing rule of reserving space 2.5 mt x 5 mt for each car park.

(Feedback 2280935, 9822152164, lionroars.goa@gmail.com)