MARGAO
With eateries and tea stalls under the voluntary lockdown, and the daily wage hard to come by for want of business activities, the poor and infirm, including beggars, loaders, rag pickers et al seemed to have been the most affected by the ongoing disruptions.
Eking a living on manual jobs, including rag picking, as loaders and begging, one could come across many such people sitting in the Margao Municipal garden, near the Communidade building, Gandhi market and along the Station Road anxiously waiting for good samaritans to come to their rescue in times of Covid pandemic.
It’s exactly a week now since the government imposed an official lockdown on Thursday last, followed by an unofficial lockdown till date, leaving this section of the society, including beggars, rag pickers et al to face the brunt of the closure of establishments.
There’s no dearth of citizens coming forward to take care of these people in the city, providing food and even items such as blankets to the needy, taking shelter on the city footpaths and passages in normal items.
And, in Covid times, one can find many an individual and members of charitable organizations providing succor and relief to these people.
On Thursday, members of an organization provided food packets to the poor near Aquem side of the Margao railway station, adjoining the Margao Fire Station complex. People in need of food were standing in a queue to collect their food packets from a box arranged by a charitable organization. Unlike in the past, when the organization used to distribute food packets to the poor, they have now opted for a system wherein a box stuffed with food packets is placed at a point to facilitate the beneficiaries to pick and take away the parcel.
Around the Margao Municipal Garden too, one can come across individuals distributing food and biscuits to these people, providing them relief in their personal capacity.
