PANJIM: Concerned Citizens from in and around Panjim stated that "Entire Goa is in shock at the sudden departure of Missionaries of Charity Mother Teresa from their iconic Panjim home, which was run for destitutes, unwed mothers and the aged."
They stated that People perceive that the situations created by the Assistance de Goa are responsible for the unceremonious departure of Mother Teresa sisters.
Giving a brief background about Assistencia which is a custodian of the Mother Teresa Home, they stated at a press conference on Saturday that "The Assistencia aos Indegentes e a Infancia Desvalida de Goa, founded in 1910, is a Catholic Charitable Institute set-up with the sole purpose of serving the poor and destitute, as stated by its documents.
Since the Society was "finding it difficult to maintain the asylum in the manner which is advisable to accomplish the purpose of the institution," Mother Teresa was invited to take over the Home for the Destitute, provided that it is handed over to them unconditionally until such time when we decide to discontinue our activities." This was agreed to by Assistencia as per the Record of Proceedings of the managing committee dated 7th March 1976."
Concerned Citizens requested the President of Assistencia to publicly disclose the minutes of all the meetings and negotiations between the Assistencia and the Sisters from 2013 till date in a transparent manner.
In 2013, there were negotiations to develop the place where it was agreed that 85% of the place would be occupied by the sisters and 15% would be retained by Assistencia. However, when Neville Monteiro was appointed as the architect by Assistencia in the year 2014, the share of the Sisters is said to have been further reduced to 78% and 22 % for Assistencia, as he himself claimed in a local English daily newspaper recently. We want the President to come clean on this front to ensure Missionaries of Charity are not given a raw deal and are brought back into their home to continue with their yeoman service to needy in our society.
Concerned Citizens stated that the reduction of the Sisters share and not allowing them to repair the home for the last 10 years led to the Sisters leaving the premises.
"Priests who went there to say Mass and two diocesan priests have also observed that there were leakages even in the chapel and dirt used to fall on the altar, since the ceiling and other structures were not allowed to be repaired,"
They also plead that direct talks are held between Assistencia and Missionaries of Charity Mother Teresa’s Home in order to ensure the only abode for destitutes, unwed mothers and the aged in Panjim is not orphaned forever.