the goan I network
MARGAO
Post gangrape incident, Betalbatim is still grappling with the contentious issue of migrants in the village.
Even as the police have verified the antecedents of as many as 480 tenants putting up in the coastal village in the last six months, panchayat’s plan to issue identity cards to the migrants staying in rented rooms in the village has gone haywire.
For, senior police officers have expressed strong reservation to the Betalbatim panchayat’s plan to issue ID cards to the migrant tenants based on the tenant verification forms filled up by the Goa police. Police officials in the know sounded skeptical about the ID card proposal mooted by the Betalbatim panchayat on grounds that the ID card may be misused by migrants, changing jobs from village to village. Police suspect that the ID cards may come in handy for unscrupulous tenants to indulge in their nefarious activities once he goes to a new place after changing the jobs.
Says Betalbaim Sarpanch Constancio Miranda: “We wanted the police to provide us a copy of the stranger verification form so that the panchayat can issue identity cards to the tenants. But, the police suspect that the unscrupulous elements may misuse the ID cards to carry out their criminal activities.”
The sarpanch, however, said the panchayat would pursue the matter with the Colva police to find ways and means of bringing the migrants under the scanner of the local body. “The Colva police had been carrying out the verification of the tenants staying in the village. But, we wanted the police to provide us details of the tenants so that the panchayat could issue them the ID cards,” the sarpanch added.
Colva police station in-charge, PI Filomena Costa said the beat police looking after Betalbatim village have been drafted for the purpose of filling up the tenant verification forms of the tenants. “As per the district Magistrate’s order, the prime responsibility of filling up the tenant verification forms rests with the landlords. But, any citizen, including the panchayat members, can just alert the police over the presence of migrants or tenants and the police would set in motion the process to get the forms filled up,” PI Costa added.
Betalbatim village plays host to a good number of migrants and their presence in the village had been a subject of debate at almost every gram sabha. The issue had figured prominently at the Betalbatim gram sabha post-gangrape incident and the murder of a Colva resident at the village belt even though migrants putting up in the village were not connected to the incidents. However, it is not out of place to mention that Betalbatim had witnessed an uproar a couple of years ago after a migrant had knifed a local minor girl, triggering demands amongst the local community to bring all migrants under the scanner of the police and panchayat authorities.
