The Chief Officer of Margao Municipal Council, Siddivinayak Naik, has been doing a commendable job in recoveries of dues, in sealing shops without trade licenses and in clearing encroachments on footpaths. While these steps were overdue, the fact remains that most of his predecessors were either silent or acted halfheartedly in dealing with these violators. The CO must have a look at the shops inside the New Market. The task is tremendous, as there are thousands of establishments which do not have a trade license. This is what the people were protesting about – that the MMC was imposing sanitation fees on law abiding citizens, whereas thousands of unauthorised establishments were carrying out business free of any costs. Earlier there were hardly any attempts to correct this anomaly.
One cannot expect the CO to cover the entire town in a few days, but his tenacity in carrying out this task is to be appreciated, for besides imposing discipline among traders, it also brings in revenue to MMC. It must be ensured that these steps are not taken selectively, bowing to the dictates of the politicians. When inquiries were made by some citizens regarding the mini market behind Holy Spirit Church on the way to Borda, the then CO had replied that the matter is pending in court. We have been hearing the same story of the matter being sub judice. If the issue is in court, can a full- fledged market function without trade licenses? The present CO, who has shown guts in tackling irregularities in Margao, must address this issue if he does not want to be charged with selective targeting. This is surely not the only place where irregularities are observed and Madganvkars look forward to the CO’s implementation of rules to ensure that Margao becomes a better place to live in.
I had been critical of Naik acting autocratically in demanding cash or payorder payment for municipal taxes and refusing to accept cheques as a few had bounced. It was surely not fair to penalise thousands of assessees because of a few unethical individuals. Further, it was in contravention of government going “cashless” from October, as most Departments still accept or even demand cash payments. Swiping machines have partly solved the problem at MMC.
However, I sincerely feel that he needs to be appreciated for the above referred tasks.
