Boost doorstep banking
The ATMs of certain banks are not accessible for persons with disability (PWDs) thereby discriminating against them and in violation of Section 3 and Section 40 of the Rights of Persons with Disability Act 2016. Senior citizens and elderly persons have to wait in long queues in the banks to get their work done. After an extremely long wait, an 85-year-old woman from Carla village in Sanguem taluka received her 16 months’ pension of Rs 32,000 from a bank at Quepem, delivered at her residence after South Goa MP Captain Viriato Fernandes took up the matter with the bank manager. She could not receive her pension since she could not go to the bank. It is pertinent to note that doorstep banking services cater to both financial and non-financial banking needs of the customers of all banks under a single umbrella. The services are extended to senior citizens and differently-abled persons including the visually impaired. The financial services include cash pick-up and deposit, cash delivery against withdrawal from account. The non-financial services include delivery of demand drafts, submission of KYC documents, submission of life certificate, etc. It is also important to note that there are no charges for availing the services. Banks also need to help retired persons having health issues by delivering their monthly pension at the doorsteps.
Adelmo Fernandes, Vasco
In honour of St Valentine
This is with reference to the letter ‘Denigrating Valentine Day’ by Jubel D’Cruz, (NT, February 13, 2025). Valentine Day, which is celebrated universally every year on February 14, has unfortunately become a hot potato in the country due to some misguided elements, who perceive it as a day of sexual immorality. The truth however is different. It is a day to honour and celebrate the martyrdom of a Roman Catholic priest Valentine in the third century for defying the orders of the Roman emperor Claudius II, who prohibited men from marrying, so as to enable them to perform better in the army. Valentine, on the contrary, secretly performed marriages for couples for several years, until he was arrested, imprisoned, and later executed for failing to recant. Before he was executed Valentine wrote to his friends asking them to pray for him and to keep their marriages sacred. It is for such noble deeds and martyrdom that Valentine is honoured as St Valentine, and the day February 14 celebrated all over the world as Valentine’s Day.
AF Nazareth, Alto Porvorim
Redefine marital rape
Unjust laws logically end in injustice but even by this bleak yardstick the High Court of Chhattisgarh’s recent judgement letting off a man convicted by lower courts on a charge of marital rape is extremely disturbing. The woman’s dying declaration blamed her injuries on forceful sexual intercourse by her husband; even the post-mortem revealed the cause of death as rectal perforation. The judges quoted Exception 2 in Section 375 of the BNS which states that sexual acts by a man with his own wife do not constitute rape. The biggest and most widespread form of sexual violence in India is thus being abetted by such archaic and illogical laws. The Parliament and courts have decriminalised adultery and same sex relationships, why then is it dragging its feet on marital rape. The concept of consent still has a long way to go in Indian society but the only way to get ahead is to end all legal protection for non-consensual sex.
Vinay Dwivedi, Benaulim
Say no to freebies
The Supreme Court has rightly deprecated the practice of political parties promising freebies just before elections. Really speaking, why just before elections, freebies should not be offered at all. Freebies are like parasites, as the court observed. Are we not creating a class of parasites? Instead of offering freebies we ought to create employment opportunities, enabling people to make a living. The government must keep inflation on a leash, keeping prices of essential commodities under control. Then, there certainly will not be a need for freebies as such.
Melville X D’Souza, Mumbai
Free rein for freebies
Once again, the Supreme Court has decried the freebie culture adopted by political parties in their bid to woo voters. In the rat race for power, promises are freely made. Most of the freebies offered by the politicians are far-fetched, unrealistic and outright ridiculous. Nevertheless they are unabashedly made because there are certain sections of the society that are gullible to tall promises. Most of the parties do not divulge the huge burden the freebies will put on the exchequer, if at all the promises are to be remotely met. Apparently, the hands of the Election Commission are full with the onerous responsibility of conducting elections. The top court has hit the nail right on the head when it remarked that a class of parasites is being created consequent to freebies being doled out by the governments.
Ganapathi Bhat, Akola
