In a letter to Goa Governor P S Sreedharan Pillai, the Goa Seaman Association of India (GSAI) begged him to ask the State government to make the Goa Seafarers Welfare Pension scheme permanent.
According to GSAI President Frank Viegas, “We do plead with your good office to kindly intervene to reconsider the decision as a temporary relief of six months taken by the Government of Goa and to consider our demand to make the scheme permanent for the improvement and benefit of the Seafarer’s community.”
The elderly and others in need, who frequently visit their office and have been praying that the programme doesn’t expire or be stopped, have not been helped much by the government’s decision, according to Viegas.
He recalled how the programme was started when the late Manohar Parrikar, the previous chief minister, visited their Margao headquarters and personally spoke with the sailors to understand their condition.
He continued by saying that older residents have had to make multiple trips to government offices and banks for their pensions, which has had an adverse effect on their physical and mental health. In addition, their demands from the previous three years have not been honoured.
