Team Herald
PONDA: Drishti Lifesaving Services Pvt Ltd is allegedly secretly training 30 non-Goans at the Government Swimming Pool in Ponda to replace the protesting lifeguards.
Goan lifeguards employed by Drishti are on strik since last 23 days for various demands. To force them to give up their strike, the company has issued the lifeguards show-cause notices with a warning that their services would be terminated if they fail to report for duty immediately.
To make good on its threat of terminating services, Drishti is allegedly secretly training 30 non-Goans at the Government Swimming Pool in Ponda to replace the protesting lifeguards.
Drishti Lifeguards Union leader Swati Kerkar said that the first batch has been given 15 days training as against the 90-day mandatory training at the Ponda swimming pool.
Calling the training of non-Goans as lifeguards as conspiracy against Goan lifeguards, Kerkar demanded that the training be stopped immediately. To press for her demand, she also staged a dharna in front of Ponda Sports Complex on Friday.
When the news of the alleged secret training spread, the striking lifeguards from all over Goa rushed to Ponda and joined the protest dharna with Kerkar.
Addressing the press, Kerkar alleged that instead of resolving the issue of striking lifeguards, the government is supporting the private company by allowing use of its resources against the interest of Goan lifeguards.
“We will intensify our agitation, if Drishti and government try to provide jobs to non-Goans at the cost of Goan lifeguards,” she warned.
“Drishti has hatched a conspiracy to remove striking Goan lifeguards, who are agitating for their rightful demands. For this, they are training non-Goans as lifeguards. We will not tolerate this,” she warned.
Slamming the government for compromising on the training, she asked, “How the government can allow 15-day training in place of 90 days for lifeguard jobs. This show that the government is working against interest of Goans by providing its resources to a private company that is exploiting the lifeguards by denying their rightful demands.”
She demanded that the government scrap its contract with Drishti and absorb all the 600 striking lifeguards under its department.
The lifeguards are agitating for payment, increment in salary and bonus.
“The lifeguards are agitating, intermittently, since 2012 for their demands. Instead of scrapping its contract with Drishti for not meeting the demands of the lifeguards, it has been renewing the contract,” Kerkar alleged.
Shekar Kamat, an agitating lifeguard, said that they learnt from Sports Complex sources that Drishti is providing just fifteen days training to non-Goans to recruit them as lifeguards. “How the ill-trained lifeguards will be able to rescue the tourists,” he questioned.
“Recruiting non-Goan will deprive the Goans of their jobs. If our services are terminated, who will feed our families?” he wondered.
