G S BRAR SENT TO GOA TO SORT OUT MOI MESS

PANJIM: Taking serious note of the bickering in the party and among the constituents of the ruling coalition over the issue of medium of instruction, the Congress high command rushed the All India Congress Committee general secretary, Mr Gurmeet Singh Brar, to Goa to sort out the "mess" and ensure smooth functioning of the government.

Mr Brar, who was at New Delhi airport on Monday afternoon, on way to the state, said that he was rushing to the state on the instruction of the party high command to deal with the situation in Goa and ensure that all the issues, including the medium of instruction, were amicably sorted out. He was expected to reach Goa late in the evening on Monday.

Earlier in the day, a group of 12 Congress legislators met at the official residence of Public Works Department Minister, Mr Churchill Alemao, to discuss the issue of medium of instruction and decided to wait for the response from the party high command on the issue before taking any further step.

Mr Alemao said that the meeting was called exclusively to discuss the medium of instruction issue and that no other issue was discussed. He also said that politics was not involved in the meeting as it was held for ensuring "bright" future for the future generation. He went on to add that the Chief Minister, Mr Digambar Kamat was already briefed over the issue before the meeting was called. The PWD Minister said that Congress legislators were of the opinion that government should respect the wishes of the people as regards to the medium of instruction and that grants should be released to all aided schools irrespective of the medium of instruction.  "We will discuss the matter with the AICC general secretary on Tuesday," he added.

According to the sources in the group a move by some leaders to obtain signatures of those present met with resistance from the members of the group, following which the move was dropped.

Meanwhile, the Power Minister, Mr Aleixo Sequeira who also attended the meeting at the fag end said that he personally was for English as the medium of instruction, but that he would go by any decision that the government would take.

The PWD Minister informed that those who attended the meeting besides himself were Mr Joaquim Alemao, Mr Sequeira, Mr Atanasio Monserrate, Mr Filipe Neri Rodrigues, Mr Agnelo Fernandes, Mr Chandrakant Kavlekar, Mr Francisco Silveira, Ms Victoria Fernandes, Mr Reginaldo Aleixo Lourenco and Mr Pratap Gawas.

He also said that Mr Manohar Azgaonkar who was also part of the group could not attend as he was out of station.

Besides, he claimed that Mr Vishwajit Rane and Mr Jose Philip D’Souza also called him up to pledge their support to the cause of English as medium of instruction.

Mr Brar would meet Congress leaders from 9 a.m. at a starred hotel to hear their views on the issue besides other issues and report the same to the party high command before a final decision is taken on various issues concerning the state.