PANJIM: The Women and Child Development (WCD) issued seven orders for four women shelter homes run by Street Providence, after Chief Minister Pramod Sawant instructed the department to release all the dues to Street Providence.
Donald Fernandes of Street Providence said, “The Chief Minister has played Santa to our 50 poor Goan homeless women with mental disabilities in our five shelter homes and instructed Women and Child Development to release all our dues, including advances for 2023-24.”
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“The instruction was issued on December 26, 2023. W&CD issued seven orders for four women shelter homes on December 27. I am sure never ever before has any NGO got seven orders issued in one day including advance,” he told reporters.
Fernandes said when he had met the Chief Minister on December 16, 2023, at his residence along with 22 Goan ladies with disabilities, the chief minister had assured him to sort out the issue and meet them again the following week but that did not happen. On Christmas day, the CMO office fixed an appointment for the NGO and W&CD officials.
“’Unfortunately, we had to let go of the difference of 2021-22 and 2022-23 for one shelter home under the central government scheme which is more than Rs 10 lakh, since the Deputy Director of WCD could not convince or did not show the motivation, which forced us to bear the loss,” he said.
As many as 22 women living in Street Providence shelter homes had visited the office of Women and Child Development Department on December 15 to press for release of their pending doles and hike the doles. They had claimed that Rs 2,000 per month dole was not enough for food, medical and other expenses.
