the goan I network
PANAJI
A bitter, unseemly war of words between two NGOs over the last week could end up Goa’s homeless thrown to the streets again from the shelters run by Street Providence, one of the NGOs involved in the
altercation.
Taking to social media on Monday, trustee of Street Providence, Donald Fernandes announced that the NGO will be shutting down all their homes, around eight across Goa, soon. In his social media post which started being widely shared and circulated on Monday evening, Fernandes said that it was a police complaint against his NGO filed by Avelino De Sa, president of the Disability Rights Association of Goa (DRAG) that has led to taking the
wwdrastic step.
The bitter tussle between the two NGOs was triggered by the October 22 complaint by De Sa who met North Goa SP Utkrisht Prasoon, IPS, and alleged that two mentally ill beggars were “being confined in a cage by Street Providence” at a church compound in Batim. De Sa cited this as an offence under the Mental Health
Act 2017.
After De Sa approached the press with the allegations, Fernandes took to social media to vindicate himself and Street Providence and explained that the four men were in a room and not a cage.
“One man is a native of Batim who is homeless and used to roam naked and dirty in the village as he is disturbed in his mind. The villagers of Batim are happy that he is in our home. Another is a Goan man who has been admitted by his wife and his sisters who don’t have an issue with him being in this room. I have a stamp paper from them in writing. They come regularly to see him,” Fernandes claimed on a social media post, also explaining the plights of the other two
men. However, things got out of hand, after no police report on the case was forthcoming, and both De Sa and Fernandes took to Facebook to continue the battle of words on their respective
pages.
After Fernandes saying on Monday evening that he would shut down his homes on account of the police complaint, things calmed down on Monday night, when in another post, he revealed that Street Providence had not yet shut down their homes.
It is to be noted that Street Providence, an NGO which has been running for the past two years, picks up homeless people and houses them, and looks after them, after police verification and a medical check-up. The cases of homeless people who have been rehabilitated by the NGO has been well documented. Before this, there have been no known complaints that Street Providence has been involved in mistreating any of its inmates.
The police, meanwhile, are yet to pass judgement and act on De Sa’s complaint. But the unsavoury tussle between the two NGOs which spilled into the public domain via social media, is seemingly throwing up clear losers in the homeless who are may be thrown to the streets again if Street Providence comes good on its threat to shut their eight shelters. And, there’s no sight of any winner emerging from the tussle.
