The growing amount of beggars around Goa is creating the big nuisance for the locals as well as tourists. To take care of this condition Calangute police initiated a drive to clean Calangute beach from beggars and hawkers by forming a special squad for this task. Read the full report here.
[su_expand more_text=”READ MORE” less_text=” ” height=”0″ hide_less=”yes” link_style=”button” link_align=”center”] According to the sources, a large number of beggars and hawkers were rounded up by the special police squad formed by Calangute police in association with the local citizens of the Calangute.
The resolution in this regards was passed in Calangute gram sabha on 3rd April 2016. Subsequent to the passing of the resolution, the committee wrote to the Calangute police station in-charge sending the copy of the letter to collector’s office and other concern authorities to clear the beggars and hawkers from the Calangute beach. According to the sources in Panchayat, “Their presence was “ruining the image of Calangute as a global tourist destination”.
Following the intimation to police the special squad was formed to tackle the beggars with the help of NGO ‘Care for India’ Calangute ZP member Shawn Martins said a ‘neighborhood watch’, comprising local citizens from different areas of Calangute to monitor the situation in their own areas, has also been formed. “We had a meeting with the superintendent of police (North) Umesh Gaonkar recently, and Calangute police inspector Tushar Vernekar after which we formed these ‘neighborhood watch’ bodies. The police also agreed to form a special squad to deal with the problem with around 15-20 constables, including three lady constables. We’ve also been given a bus to transport the beggars to the police station,” Martins said.
Calangute police said that they have arrested 18 hawkers and nine beggars in the first week. The drive will continue, Martins said. ‘Neighborhood watch Calangute’ is not just about assisting the police to clean up our village of unscrupulous elements like pimps, touts, hawkers, an organized chain of beggars and prostitutes, but also about educating the public by organizing awareness drives and distribution of pamphlets. We have been quite successful these past few days and the Goa police and the people of Calangute have given us full support in this endeavor,” Benedict Lobo of ‘Neighborhood watch Calangute’ said.
The NGO has also made the provision of rehabilitating the beggars. Geeta Ghadi of ‘Care for India’ NGO said that they always remained present at the spot to make sure that after the arrest proper legal procedures were followed. Members of ‘Care for India’ are also called to be present at the time of the arrests. Geeta Ghadi of the NGO says they are present to ensure that the proper legal process is followed. The 14-year-old NGO’s motto is “Transform citizens, transform the nation”. The NGO has been working with drug addicts, alcoholics, abused women, street children, and others to “enable them to lead better lives”.
Source: TOI
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