Goemkarponn Desk
Panaji: It has been 3 days since AAP Leader Captain Venzy Vigas has challenged Benaulim’s incumbent MLA Churchill Alemao to a debate on his work for the education of Benaulim’s children. AAP has been very active in Benaulim and recently Capt Viegas upped the ante in the constituency by asking Alemao to share with Bannaulekar how he has spent his MLA funds on improving education infrastructure and techniques as well as details of his interventions for education in Benaulim. Capt Viegas invited him to debate with him on this issue in Benaulim itself. Alemao has as of yet not responded to the challenge
The Benaulim constituency from Seraulim to Cavelossim has anganwadis and Govt primary schools. Seraulim has 2 anganwadis, 1 in Succobhat and 1 near the railway station. Colva has 2 Anganwadis, Benaulim has 4, Carmona has 1 Varca has 1, & Cavelossim has 1. The situation in 85% of these Anganwadis is very dire.They either have no benches or just a single bench, many are just one small room with one desk. In those rooms one can see ration stocked and children have to sit on the ground. Majority of these Anganwadis have no washrooms for either the children or teachers leading to open defecation & those that do have washrooms are in bad condition.
Due to the terrible conditions of the anganwadis most Goans prefer not to send their children here and instead have to face high fees at private institutions. Education especially at the Pre-Primary and Primary level needs to focus on the needs of children and stakeholders like parents. Beyond the syllabus there needs to be interest in improving learning and setting the foundation for the future of children.
“The fact of the matter is there has been MLA after MLA, Education Minister after Education Minister, CM after CM and there has been no change in the ground reality of Anganwadis and the education sector in Benaulim. There has been no outreach to residents who should be treated as stakeholders to see what quality or facilities are needed. Each Anganwadi could have been developed as per each village’s needs. Sadly the MLA has made no plan or share a vision for this. Once this was done it would encourage Bannaulekars to send their children to these institutions which have been built by their own taxes.” said Captain Venzy Viegas AAP Leader. “Such steps and initiatives could have only been done by the MLA of Benaulim, but it has not been done. An MLA is the link between the residents and the machinery of the state administration. Had Churchill Alemao been in the least bit interested by involving all stakeholders we could have made Benaulim the best in education in Goa. AAP is famous for its education model and in fact runs the best Kindergartens in Asia, which are free and attended by the children of rich and poor alike! When an AAP MLA wins in Benaulim this is exactly the model we will bring to Bannalekars.” added Viegas
AAP which is known for pioneering political debates on work impacting Goans made headlines for the nations first debate on the Power Model of AAP vs the Power Model of the BJP and has the Govt on the backfoot. With this challenge by Captain Venzy Viegas AAP is showing how aggressive they can get at targeting and demanding accountability from incumbent MLAs like Churchill Alemao on many issues especially education.
AAP has been making strides in Benaulim once considered the stronghold of Alemao, with a sitting ZP Hanzel Fernandes who along with Viegas has been seen aggressively working for the constituency. AAP recently opened a Benaulim office to help the residents of Benaulim connect better with the party. Team AAP has stood firmly by the residents by helping them during the CZMP movement, going door to door to provide residents with ration, fogging & even working with the large number of seafarers of Benaulim.