PANJIM: Street Providence trustee Donald Fernandes has alleged that the State government is not showing any interest into problems faced by the destitutes and persons with disabilities (PwDs) in spite of admission rate into The Institute of Psychiatry and Human Behaviour (IPHB) increasing tremendously post Covid-19.
“There are no shelter homes for persons with disabilities. People continue to face trouble which started during Covid-19 time. During the pandemic, people lost their jobs and they were stressed. In the last three years, the admission rate into IPHB has increased tremendously but IPHB does keep patients with it for more than 45 days,” he told reporters.
Fernandes said, “It is impossible to treat any person suffering from chronic diseases for 14-15 years in 45 days. That is where we come in because we have the shelter homes. Now if IPHB withdraws the support, we will collapse.”
“If the district hospital withdraws support, we will collapse. We depend on these institutions for treating those people who are homeless. In Panjim itself, there are more than 20 women on the street, what can we do?,”he asked.
Fernandes also charged that the Women and Child Development (WCD) Department is not extending cooperation to him on the issue of welfare of the destitutes.
“Our issue with the Department of Social Welfare is that the grant be increased. The grant value was calculated in 2003. We are in 2023. We are working on increasing the grant. We have put some good proposals and the department has accepted that. If the Social Welfare Department is supporting us, then why can’t the Women and Child Development Department show the same gesture? We do not want any Goans on the street. If they are on the street, they should get some relief,” he said.
As many as 22 women living in shelter homes of Street Providence had visited the office of WCD Department on Thursday to press for release of their doles, which included increase in pending doles and hike in it. They claimed that Rs 2,000 per month is not enough for food, medical and other expenses.
