The unending nightmare of citizens at the Citizens Facilitation Centre of the district collectorate continued on Wednesday. Since the break of dawn, harried citizens queued up at every counter inside main hall of the CFC. By afternoon, the counters were swamped by a sea of humanity desperate to submit applications, get affidavits or certificates.

After standing in queues for hours together, pushed and jostled, several citizens sat on the floors with no clue as to when their turn would come. Tired women sponging sweat with the "pallu" of their sarees tried to get away from the commotion, only to rush back in the belief that their name had been called out. While on Tuesday, the male crowd was present in big numbers, on Wednesday women and girls far outnumbered the men. "Hum log subah nau baje see yeh aye hey...hume pata nahi humara number kab ayenga," (We came here at 9 am. We have no idea when our turn will come," say Jamila Shaikh and Shamim Shaikh of Yerawada. For fear of losing their number in the queue, the two women did not even go for lunch. Neither could they get anything to eat amidst the huge crowd. Both of them wanted an affidavit.

The plight of Pushpa Gadre, a housewife awaiting to get an income certificate, was simply seen to be believed. On Tuesday, she waited in the queue for as many as 12 hours without any luck.

"From six in the morning to six in the evening, I spent 12 hours in the queue. When my turn came, I was told that I will have to come tomorrow," laments Gadre. "Today I again landed here early around 7 in the morning. And now it is 3 pm, I doubt I will get my certificates today as well." Gadre says she does not know why the women had to suffer the nightmare and risk their life in the huge surging crowd. "Kahi teri kara o...amhala madat kara...(Please do something, please help us out)," she pleads, fervently.

... contd.