MARGAO: The Margao Municipal Council (MMC) on Friday cancelled an important meeting due to the absence of 14 councillors. It was for the first time in MMC’s history that the quorum of at least seven councillors could not be achieved. The meeting was cancelled after two 10-minute postponements.
Sources claimed that most of the councillors had gone to Panjim to support Margao MLA Digambar Kamat, who is facing corruption charges in the Louis Berger case.
Councillor Pratima Coutinho and Margao’s Civil Society Group slammed the absent councillors and called for their rejection in the upcoming municipality elections.
The six councillors present for the meeting included: Raju Naik, Carmin Fernandes, Sangita Audi, Pratima Coutinho, Arthur D’Silva and Dayanand Deulkar. Chief Officer Y B Tawde was also present.
A humongous 45-point agenda was to be discussed at the meeting. MMC was already under fire for holding such a huge and controversial agenda. Several people were seen wearing chef caps and holding placards criticizing the MMC. Some of them had brought emergency torches and pillows as the meeting was anticipated to get over very late.
Councillor Pratima urged the people to throw out councillors who prioritize other things over MMC meetings. She said, “I have been calling these 14 absent councillors; surprisingly no one is picking up their phones. I heard that they are in Panjim, and if that is the case, it is a shame that MMC is secondary for them. These councillors are not serious about the MMC and should not contest elections in the future. I advise people not to elect these kinds of puppets of politicians in the future.”
When contacted, Councillor of Ward 20 Damu Shirodkar confirmed that he was in Panjim. He said, “We were in Panjim to support our beloved MLA Digambar Kamat. Me, Dayanand Mayenkar, Dorris Texeira and others all were there.”
Meanwhile, Chairperson Arthur D’Silva was in defensive mode and not ready to comment on the absent councillors. He said, “I don’t know why they are absent. I got calls from two councillors saying they will be unable to attend. But I can’t say anything as there may be an emergency for them.”
CO Tawde stated, “My office has not received any written or oral intimation from the absent councillors. Some of the absentees were seen in the MMC building in the morning, but they didn’t intimate about anything”.
The next date of the meeting hasn’t been set, but the Chairperson says he will speak to everyone concerned and take a decision.
