Goa Governor: People are supreme, we are here to serve the people

Pillai, a prolific writer, who has written over 200 books, was speaking at a book release event at Raj Bhavan, where three books — ‘Heritage Trees of Goa’, ‘When Parallel Lines Meet’ and ‘Ente Priya Kavithakal’ (a collection of poems) — recently authored by him were released.

Pillai said the inspiration for the endeavour struck him as he toured across over 421 villages in Goa, as part of an initiative to extend aid to dialysis and cancer patients through the Governor’s discretionary fund.

During his address, West Bengal Governor Dr CV Ananda Bose heaped heavy praise on the Goa Governor, saying that the latter had been a successful lawyer, politician, writer, and Governor and that he would like to learn some lessons from him.

“He [Pillai] is a ‘total writer’ and no subject is alien to him. He takes a brick and turns it into marble,” said Bose.

“Chief Ministers and Governors are expected to implement the law of the land. Here, the Governor of Goa has made me break the law…As an old IAS officer, we have a rule in the IAS. Once you have passed the examination, the rule is to stop reading…The Governor has made me break the rule. I have read the book,” said Bose.

Bose added, “I am also a Governor. I am yet to go to a village and here is a Governor, who is covering 400 villages and he is creating a new village here, that is, PS Sreedharan Pillai village…an island of excellence in itself.”

Goa chief minister Pramod Sawant said Pillai was the first Governor to undertake and complete the Goa Sampurna Yatra, encompassing over 400 villages across 40 assembly constituencies.

Praising Pillai for his philanthropic works, Jnanpith award winner Damodar Mauzo, said Goa was fortunate to have a Governor who was a “man of letters and ideas”.

“Though I am introduced as a Jnanpith awardee, I feel a little apologetic. I only have about 25 books to my credit, while the Governor has written over 200. It won’t be long before his name is in record books,” said Mauzo.