The Hindu : National : `Lack of planning in Baina demolition'

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Jun 20, 2004

National

National

`Lack of planning in Baina demolition'

By Our Special Correspondent

PANAJI, JUNE 19. While many people have welcomed the Goa Government's action of demolishing the cubicles in Baina Beach inhabited by commercial sex workers (CSWs), some have questioned the way the Government accomplished the task.

This has not only led to the resignation of the MLA, Victoria Fernandes, from the Goa State Commission for Women (GSCW), but also generated much heat in Karnataka where charges have been made that Kannadigas are being harassed in Goa.

The directive of the Panaji Bench of the Bombay High Court was clear — to recover the Government and municipal land on which the cubicles facilitating the flesh trade had come up. While no obligation was cast on the Goa Government to rehabilitate the CSWs, the Court had directed the National Commission for Women and the State Commissions for Women in Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka to plan the rehabilitation. The CSWs hail from these two States.

The Goa Government had also offered a rehabilitation package, in association with the women's commissions, involving training to CSWs in various trades and vocations and set apart Rs. 1 crore for this. Though initially some CSWs expressed a desire to be rehabilitated, most of them fled Baina before the Government started the demolition work last Sunday, without opting for the package.

Ms. Fernandes told reporters here on Friday that she was resigning in protest against the way the Government had handled the Baina issue, without heeding the suggestions of the GSCW. "There was a complete lack of planning [in rehabilitation and demolition]," she said, adding that innocent labourers were displaced due to the demolition. The Goa Pradesh Congress Committee president, Luizihno Faleiro, also addressed the meet and flayed the Government for "suppressing" the voice of the GSCW. He said the Government had failed to identify cubicles where the CSWs had carried on their activity. The exercise had displaced labourers from other sections of the society too, he said.

Parrikar refutes charges

However, the Chief Minister, Manohar Parrikar, rebutted the allegations of harassment of Kannadigas while dealing with the Baina issue. The Government acted upon the High Court order to recover "its own land" and had not demolished any private property. The CSWs did not opt for the rehabilitation package and, on the other hand, abandoned the place.

The Chief Secretary, D.S. Negi, said that his Karnataka counterpart, K.K. Mishra, had contacted him on the issue of alleged harassment of Kannadigas, and he had clarified on it.

It was possible that the premises of persons carrying on other commercial activities in the area were demolished, he said. It was impossible to distinguish between the cubicles used by the CSWs and other commercial premises in the same building.

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