MMC CO absence stalls wages of door-to-door waste collectors

 There was no Chief Officer in the Margao Municipal Council to move a proposal to the government to pay the wage of the door-to-door waste collection workers from its coffers, even as a Municipal team headed by Chairperson Gonzaco Rebello called on Chief Minister, Manohar Parrikar and Urban Development Minister Francisco D’Souza for sanction of funds to fund the door-to-door waste collection scheme. Even as the 170 daily wage workers went about their work as usual following assurances that they will receive their August wages at the earliest, the MMC was handicapped in moving the file to the government for want of a chief officer. Rebello said though the councillors were of the opinion that the daily wage workers should be paid from the municipal fund, pending receipt of the government grant, the absence of the CO came in the way of the file being moved to the DMA for approval. Gonzaco, however, said that things should fall in place by next week with the CM assuring that the civic body would receive the grant. “We met the CM and drew his attention to the problem. He assured to sanction the amount and asked us to call on the Urban Development Minister for further action,” he said. Gonzaco said that the chief officer will be asked on Monday to despatch a note to the DMA, Elvis Gomes seeking permission to use the municipal funds to clear the payments of the daily wage workers.