the goan I network
MARGAO
Activist Tara Kerkar on Monday took strong objection to the presence of beggars along the Margao station road and the railway station, demanding that the authorities send the beggars either to the homes or to their native states.
Tara told the media that one would find dozens of beggars loitering at the Aquem side of the railway station and along the station road at Malbhat at any given time. “The beggars are taking shelter at the railway station and the station road as an NGO has been providing food for these people everyday,” she said.
Tara pointed out that she had recently gone to the Konkan railway police station, only to find around 100 beggars loitering around the railway station and the station road. “These people, who have come from other states, are being provided food by a local NGO. When they die, the police take their bodies and preserve at the mortuary at the Hospicio and GMC, leaving no place for the locals,” she said.
Tara said when she called on the station superintendent, he pointed out that they are helpless in addressing the issue since the beggars return back after being driven away. “I demand that the beggars should be either lodged in a home or sent back to their native states. Otherwise, a stage will come when families will just leave the elderly people from these states at the Margao railway station knowing that they are well taken care of with food provided by a local NGO,” she said, fearing that the Margao railway station and the station road will become a second home for these people.
