MARGAO
Even as tributes were paid to Pai Tiatrist Agostinho Fernandes on his 74th death anniversary at the Ravindra Bhavan, Margao, on Sunday, his granddaughter has lamented that successive governments have only paid lip service to the request to preserve and conserve his ancestral house for posterity.
Sharmila Fernandes said she has only heard successive governments and ministers promising to restore the 160-year-old house of her grandfather. “To date, no government has done anything to protect the house. We have been looking after the maintenance of the house despite facing financial issues,” she said.
She further pointed out that even a minister came out with a proposal to restore the house by giving a portion of the ancestral house to him. “We have preserved the house for decades now since it was built by Pai Tiatrist out of his hard-earned money,” she said.
Sharmila said builders had approached her in the past for real estate development, but she has refused to part away with the ancestral house since it has been a blessing and a remembrance of her grandfather.
“I only request the government to do something to protect the house. It will be a great favour,” she added.
Chairman of Ravindra Bhavan Damu Naik said, “If there’s any request to protect his house, then the department of archaeology can look into and examine the matter before taking a final decision.”
He added: “The work of Pai Tiatrist cannot be forgotten. As you enter the hall, we take his blessing at his portrait. We can ask the department of archaeology to examine the matter of protecting his ancestral house. We will make all efforts to preserve his house”.
