It’s been a while since the winter has set in. Nights in Goa are relatively cold with temperatures falling even below 22 degrees Centigrade. We are able to spend the cold nights in the coziness of our homes. However there are several people who do not have a roof over their heads. These street-dwellers who occupy the pavements have to sleep in the open under night-sky and in bitter cold.
Many of these migrant labourers are daily wage earners. There could also be the homeless children and aged street-dwellers who have to fight the bitter winter cold. They are seen lying on the pavements near the railway stations, in the market-place and other open spaces. They have absolutely no protection from the bitter cold.
These poor people need to be provided with blankets. It would be desirable for NGOs, social groups, well-meaning citizens, social-workers, business houses to come forward and provide blankets for these street-dwellers. The authorities need to shift the aged people who sleep on the pavements to the old-age homes and the children to the orphanages. They should be dissuaded from begging on the streets.
ADELMO FERNANDES, Vasco
