KANZIL RODRIGUES
bureau@herald-goa.com
OLD GOA: It was intended to provide shelter to relatives attending to patients at the Goa Medical College Hospital at Bambolim, but the Yatri Niwas at the GMC complex has now been handed over to officials attending to the Lusofonia Games in the state.
Confirming that they have been given the Yatri Niwas, an official of the Lusofonia Games 2013 from New Delhi told Herald on condition of anonymity: “We have rented the entire premises of Yatri Niwas. No one, other than our staff, is allowed to enter the building premises.”
The Yatri Niwas is a 116-bedded accommodation which was intended to provide shelter to relatives and attendants of patients admitted at the GMC hospital. The Yatri Niwas complex consists of four-bedded dormitories in each of the 12 rooms and three eight-bedded rooms on the ground floor. On the first floor, there are 22 individual double bedrooms with attached toilets.
While officials in the government and at the GMC were unsure if the Yatri Niwas building at GMC had been rented out, they, however, admitted that the Yatri Niwas premises had been given to the organizers of the Lusofonia Games “through a mutual understanding” to set up a secretariat for the games.
At present, the ground floor of the complex has been transformed into an office with computers and tables for the Lusofonia Games secretariat and there is not a single bed on the ground floor. One portion of the ground floor has reportedly been converted into a conference hall.
Incidentally, not a single relative or attendant of any patient was seen on the ground or first floor of the Yatri Niwas. But a number of relatives and attendants of patients were seen asleep on the floor outside the wards at the GMC hospital. Their plight did not seem to have moved the government, since the entire building intended for the use of the patient’s relatives and attendants had been handed over to the Lusofonia organizers.
Sources told Herald that about 35-40 officials from New Delhi are already in Goa to prepare for the games and have reportedly taken up temporary possession of the Yatri Niwas.
Local legislator Vishnu Surya Wagh, who incidentally is the chairman of the house committee at the GMC, was taken aback when he was informed about the situation. “I am not aware of any such thing and since you brought it to my notice, I will try and find out what the whole issue is all about.”
When asked if the government had rented out the Yatri Niwas for the Lusofonia Games, Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar said “I don’t think it is has been given on rent, but if it is rented out, then what is the big problem? The money will go to the state government only and not to a private party and it is an internal arrangement.”
“The Yatri Niwas was not being used as the premises were not for patients but for relatives of patients. The building was lying vacant for three to four years. So, we thought of giving it to them (Lusofonia organisers) so that rent paid to outsiders by the organizers of the Lusofonia Games would be curtailed. I don’t think the building has been given out on rent and the person who may have informed you may not be aware of it,” Parrikar added.
Health Minister Laxmikant Parsekar said he was unaware if the Yatri Niwas was rented out or merely handed over to the Lusofonia organisers, but added that there was no problem even if the building was rented out to the Lusofonia organisers.
“Since the Yatri Niwas has not been occupied, it has been allotted as the secretariat for the Lusofonia Games. Itis government premises and if the government can get some rent out of it then there should be no problem as we are earning some money. However, I do not have complete details about the arrangement,” Parsekar said.
Meanwhile, Curtorim MLA and Congress spokesperson Alex Reginaldo Lourenco has questioned the decision of the government to hand over the Yatri Niwas for the Lusofonia Games.
“GMC premises should be for public use. If the Yatri Niwas has been given for the Lusofonia Games, then it is wrong. I think the government should first look after the interest of patients. The premises were for the benefit of those relatives and attendants of patients who had no place to sleep in the hospital. The chief minister has forgotten the priorities of the state,” Lourenco said.
