MARGAO
Around 305 persons who didn’t have any ID proof or documents were administered the anti-Covid vaccine at the special vaccination drive conducted by the district administration at the TB Hospital, Margao on Sunday.
The bigger question however is, if any efforts have been made to get the marginalized sections, including beggars and homeless vaccinated, whose place of residence are either the gardens or open spaces, pavements or city footpaths?
Consider this. The South Goa district administration had issued a press release two days ago, requesting people falling in the two categories -- Indian nationals without prescribed ID cards and Nepali citizens residing in India. They were asked to visit the TB hospital, Monte Hill and get themselves vaccinated.
Questions are being raised whether the press release has reached the marginalized sections of society, including the beggars and the homeless.
That’s not all. Question is being asked whether the authorities had put in place a system wherein they coordinated with the people looking after the marginalized sections of society, providing them daily food for their survival.
Sources have further raised a question whether if the authorities contacted the shop keepers to ensure that labourers, acting as porters and loaders, are brought for vaccination.
When this question was posed to Salcete Mamlatdar Prataprao Gaonkar, he said the police are supposed to get the beggars and the homeless from the Margao Municipal garden for vaccination, but could not do so following the incident at Nuvem, requiring their deployment there.
Saying that around 305 persons from the two categories got the anti-Covid dose on Sunday, the nodal officer, however, could not state whether any of the homeless, especially the migrants, who had made the pavements, footpaths and the Municipal garden homes, were vaccinated on Sunday.
Sources in the know, however, informed that the number of vaccinated persons is too less considering the fact that the commercial capital plays host to a large number of migrants, including the homeless and the beggars.
Nodal vaccination officer, attached to the TB hospital, Dr Ira Almeida informed that around 305 persons received the anti-Covid dose on Sunday during the special vaccination exercise meant for persons sans the prescribed ID proof and other documents, including natives of Nepal.
To a question, she said 50 per cent of the beneficiaries may be natives of Nepal, while the remaining are migrants, including 57 beggars, who were given the dose earlier.
Sources pointed out that the district administration had compiled a list of 200-odd persons, sans the documents, for vaccination, from entire South Goa.
