Pratiksha Khalap demands disclosure of permissions, safety measures and anti-drug safeguards; asks whether CM, ministers and Mandrem MLA were aware<\/p>\n
PANAJI, 16 August:
\nThe Goa Pradesh Mahila Congress has trained its guns on the State Government over the three-day \u201cFreedom Blast 2026\u201d event advertised at Westend Jungle, Mandrem, questioning how a large event coinciding with the Independence Day weekend was being handled amid the government\u2019s repeated claims of cracking down on drugs and ensuring public safety.<\/p>\n
Goa Pradesh Mahila Congress President Dr. Pratiksha Khalap demanded that the government disclose the permissions and safety arrangements for the event, scheduled from August 14 to 16. She stressed that the Congress was neither opposing music and tourism nor accusing the organisers of any offence, but was seeking transparency from the authorities responsible for granting permissions and enforcing the law.<\/p>\n
Khalap asked whether the venue had been inspected by the police, fire services and local authorities and whether adequate arrangements had been made for traffic management, crowd control, fire safety, emergency medical response and the safety of women.<\/p>\n
\u201cGoans have a right to know whether every statutory requirement has been fulfilled,\u201d Khalap said, invoking Chief Minister Pramod Sawant\u2019s oft-repeated phrase \u201cBhivpachi garaz na\u201d and asking whether the administration had actually verified all safety, traffic, fire and law-and-order arrangements for an event of this scale.<\/p>\n
\u2018What about the government\u2019s war against drugs?\u2019<\/p>\n
Khalap also sought answers regarding measures to prevent narcotics from reaching such large gatherings. She said a government that repeatedly claims to be fighting Goa\u2019s drug menace cannot afford gaps in enforcement.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat specific measures are in place to prevent narcotics from entering or being used at such large events?\u201d she asked.<\/p>\n
Khalap questioned whether Chief Minister Pramod Sawant, Tourism Minister Rohan Khaunte, Health Minister Vishwajit Rane and Mandrem MLA Jit Arolkar were aware of the event and the arrangements surrounding it.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf they are aware, what measures have they directed to ensure public and women\u2019s safety? If they are not aware, then it raises serious questions about coordination and accountability in the administration,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
The Mahila Congress chief accused the government of risking a perception of double standards, saying Goa cannot project a tough stance against drugs on one hand while failing to publicly answer legitimate questions about safeguards at major events on the other.<\/p>\n
\u201cEnforcement must be consistent, not selective,\u201d Khalap asserted.<\/p>\n
She maintained that tourism, music and entertainment are important to Goa\u2019s economy but cannot be allowed to compromise women\u2019s safety, public order or efforts against narcotics.<\/p>\n
Khalap therefore called upon the government to immediately make public the relevant permissions and spell out the safety protocols, traffic arrangements, fire preparedness, medical facilities and narcotics-prevention measures put in place for the Mandrem event.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe people of Goa deserve transparency and accountability. The government must come clean,\u201d she said.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Pratiksha Khalap demands disclosure of permissions, safety measures and anti-drug safeguards; asks whether CM, ministers and Mandrem MLA were aware PANAJI, 16 August: The Goa Pradesh Mahila Congress has trained…<\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8298,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8296","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-features"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t