Roque Dias | NT
MARGAO
Crores of rupees generated through the sale of lotteries are not being utilised fully by the Provedoria department of the state government to maintain the old-age homes run by it.
The Provedoria da Assistencia Publica – now known as the Institute of Public Assistance, is not utilising its funds optimally. Reliable sources said that the Provedoria has enough funds but the authorities lack the will to utilise the money.
The leaking roof of the old-age home at Loutolim, run by the Institute of Public Assistance, on Saturday forced rainwater into the hall, kitchen and other parts of the old-age home resulting in inconvenience caused to the 33 inmates housed in the heritage structure.
Four days later, director of Provedoria Vinay Volvoikar visited the place and carried out an inspection. After the inspection, he said that the roof was repaired before monsoon but “monkeys broke the roof tiles resulting in the rainwater entering in.” He promised to repair the roof in a day as he had already brought labourers along with him.
Reliable sources in the Institute of Public Assistance said that the money generated through the sale of lotteries amounted to a little over Rs 37 crore in the last financial year, while the Institute spent only Rs 11.5 crore. The scenario in the previous financial year was similar with the Institute spending only Rs 11 crore of the Rs 34.5 crore available. The amount collected through the sale of lotteries in the last five years was roughly around Rs 132 crore, but only Rs 42 crore of these funds was spent during the period.
Though Volvoikar could not reveal much on the underutilised funds, he said that the money was spent on salaries of the staff of the Institute. However, sources said that the funds were being diverted for other use.
Relatives and friends of the old-age home inmates informed this reporter that the Loutolim old-age home is in a pathetic condition and the situation worsens during monsoon. “Rainwater enters the home and gets accumulated on the floor. Water also gets onto their beds. There are no proper toilet facilities in the home and the staff is not bothered about all this. The elders expect proper basic needs and nothing else,” said an inmate’s relative.
What adds to the woes of these inmates is that the home is presently congested, with inmates brought in from the Majorda old-age home ever since it was closed for repairs. Sources said that 14 inmates were shifted from Majorda to the Loutolim home a few months ago without extending the facilities and the story about the other old-age homes maintained by the Institute of Public Assistance is no different.
“We have floated a tender worth Rs 7 lakh to replace the roof tiles of the Loutolim home with plastic sheets. This will take care of the problem the monkeys give,” said Volvoikar and added that by the next year, the roof tiles would be removed.
“If the government has the money for the purpose, why is it not being used? Why are elders in these homes made to suffer? Why are facilities denied to them? The facilities made available by the Portuguese government are worth continuing,” said former deputy sarpanch of Loutolim Mario Cruz Pereira.
Provedoria da Assistencia Publica, commonly known as the Institute of Public Assistance (Provedoria) was set up by the Portuguese government in 1947 by an enactment dated August 7, 1947. Through a legislative enactment dated April 14, 1990, it is now controlled by the state government. The Provedoria has a total of 298 inmates in its old-age homes across the state and staff strength of 200. The facilities of Provedoria are only for the benefit of Goans.