Team Herald
POINGUINIM: South Goa Collector Sachin Shinde and his staff inspected the functioning of government offices in Canacona on Thursday. According to sources, he found the situation to be abysmal and directed the mamlatdar and his staff to be prompt in discharging their duties towards the people who came with grievances.
Shinde also visited the Town and Country Planning (TCP) office and found that it was not maintained properly. He noticed that there were no signboards and nameplates, besides other irregular activities.
Incidentally, the TCP office was earlier located above the CMC vegetable market, but was shifted to an adjacent municipal building following a fire incident in 2013. However, the TCP officials abandoned some furniture in the old building.
When the Collector and his team visited the new office, they found that many items in the inventory were missing. He asked the TCP staff to give a statement about the missing items.
It was also observed that the TCP staff opened the rusted lock of the old TCP office and shifted furniture, including complaint boxes and signboards that were nailed to walls.
Meanwhile, it was learnt from Natividade D’Sa that although the TCP had vacated the old complex, it had not informed the electricity department about the same and the old office was being issued bills regularly. He claimed that TCP’s attitude showed that it was playing with the taxpayers’ money.
When contacted, Shinde said that he had submitted the details of his investigation to higher-ups and the details could be procured from the Panjim head office as he was not in a position to divulge the same to the media.
Incidentally, some government officials were unable to identify the Collector during his visit, which took them unawares. They learnt of his identity only later.
