Team Herald
PANJIM: The 13 municipal councils and the lone corporation in the State have failed to utilise huge sums of money sanctioned under development grants to them by the government. The total amount unutilised is more than Rs 56.34 crore.
Alleged lack of knowledge, bureaucratic lapses and red-tapism is hampering the utilisation of funds meant to develop the areas under the urban local bodies.
Leading the list of unutilised funds is Quepem Municipal Council which has not utilised development funds to the tune of Rs 15.34 crore followed by Margao with Rs 14.42 crore being unutilised and Mormugao which has not utilised around Rs 5.97 crore.
Speaking to Herald, Quepem Municipal Council Chairperson Rahul Pereira said there are a lot of funds remaining unutilised either due to lapses of the Directorate of Municipal Administration (DMA) or the Chief Officer or the council itself.
Citing the example of the Golden Jubilee fund, he said, “At the lapse of the DMA the fund has remained unutilised. The file was sent to DMA for sanctions and DMA misplaced the file. After I took over, I prepared a file. Earlier this month a new file has been submitted for sanction.”
Urban Development Minister Francis D’Souza said municipalities have failed not just in utilising the development grants but also the Golden Jubilee grants sanctioned to them.
He said, “They take grants for one purpose and then they realize that they cannot use it for that purpose, in that case they have to surrender and retake it. They propose projects and then they get tied up with the money.”
Stating that the Golden Jubilee grants were for signature projects and it is seven years they are unutilised, he said, “Golden Jubilee grants are for outstanding projects and it has been seven years and they can’t find a signature project. Margao Council applied to construct 20 gutters, which cannot be a signature project.”
When asked about the lapses on part of the administration and lack of communication, he said, “The councils have to look at the budget and see where they put the figures. These figures have been given by the Chief Officer of the councils and the department has not cooked them up.”
