Karwar, April 17 (ENS): Tourism Minister R V Deshpande met Goa Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar at Panaji on Thursday to initiate measures to rehabilitate Kannadigas living at Vasco.

After the meeting, Deshpande, who is also Uttara Kannada District in-charge minister, told reporters Parsekar had promised to rehabilitate the Kannadigas, living along Baina beach for 30 to 40 years.

On Wednesday, the High Court of Bombay at Goa stayed for seven days the order of the Goa government to demolish the houses of 205 Kannadiga families on Baina beach. Following this, the Kannadiga families withdrew the indefinite sit-in.

During the one-hour discussion, Deshpande appealed to the chief minister to rehabilitate the families on humanitarian grounds. “I told Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar that the Kannadigas in Goa are citizens of Goa. They obtained voter ID cards and ration cards from the Goa government,” Deshpande said. “To this, Parsekar said he was sympathetic towards the Kannadigas residing in his state,” he said.

Deshpande said he explained to Parsekar how the Kannadigas had come to Goa in search of a better livelihood.

“These Kannadigas have contributed a lot towards the development of Goa. As the Goa government had issued notices to demolish their houses, the Kannadigas are living in fear. Hence, the CM has been requested to rehabilitate Kannadigas before the demolition,” he said.

In 2014, 75 houses belonging to Kannadigas had been demolished, with the government offering no rehabilitation. Though the then chief minister Manohar Parrikar had received appeals for rehabilitation, he had taken no measures in that direction.