MARGAO
As traditional bakers under the banner of All Goa Bakers and Confectioners Association celebrated International Bakers Day by offering the annual Mass at the Holy Spirit Church on Friday, they stressed on the need for government’s immediate intervention to save the traditional occupation of Goans.
Association President Peter Fernandes said the government should respond to the SOS from the traditional bakers and bail out the occupation before it becomes extinct.
Peter went on to say that unless the government doles out sops for the traditional occupation, the quality of the humble pao will deteriorate further and that would signal the end of the business.
“Unlike in other states, where firewood and labour are available at cheap rates, bakers in Goa are facing problems of manpower and firewood. The government thinks about the street vendors, but they do not realize that poders are the real street vendors, who descend on the road with their cycle in the wee hours daily,” he said.
Saying that the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic has hit hard the traditional business, compounding their problems further, Peter said labourers who had left for their native states during the lockdown are yet to return to the bakeries.
“Some of them have no plans to return, while others are demanding a hike in salaries. We are facing problem over flour as well as firewood with the rates skyrocketing periodically,” he added.
With the government not addressing their concerns, Peter said the citizens and the civil society should take up cudgels for the bakers before the quality of pao deteriorates further affecting the traditional occupation of Goans.
“We all have to join hands to protect this traditional occupation. The ministers and MLAs should take cognizance of the problems facing the traditional bakeries and come out with a bailout package,” he said.
To a question, the president of the All Goa Bakers and Confectionaries Association said financial help by way of subsidies, interest-free loans and other facilities available for bakeries in other parts of the country should be extended to the Goan bakeries.
