The Panjim Municipal Market Tenants Association has expressed their grievances towards the newly drafted ‘Leave and Licence’ agreement by the Corporation of the City of Panjim (CCP), which is supposed to bring an end to the entire mess at the market. Comparing the previous agreement of 2003, the committee claims that the new agreement has misrepresented many clauses. The committee has completely opposed the leave and licence agreement and has demanded to lease as per the agreement of 2003.
The new agreement which was drafted in 2014 states that the vendors who were rehabilitated from the old municipal market will be given shops on the agreement of Leave and Licence for 3 years. However, the tenant’s fears that after the contract of three years, their shop will not be secure. They demand to restore the previous clause which says ‘the shop will be leased for 30 years’.
“I am not happy with the agreement as the agreement itself is on the basis of leave and licence, but not on lease. What will happen to us when the contract gets over? Once the contract is over, CCP will have the power to throw us out from the market,” said one of the tenants, Dharmendra Bhagat.
Meanwhile, Bhagat also pointed out the increase in municipal rent which has been hiked to Rs. 250 per square meter. “We cannot afford to pay Rs. 250 sq mtr as municipal rent. We have already paid more than a lakh as construction cost,” he added, claiming they are ready to pay up to Rs. 150.
The new agreement was drafted considering the report which was submitted by N D Agarwal two years back, which stated that 95% of the shops in the market are illegal. The report had also highlighted looe-holes in the procedure of allotment of shops in the Panjim Municipal Market, and named municipal officials and corporators of the CCP for irregularities.
According to sources, very few vendors – especially non-goan, have agreed and signed the agreement. In the meantime, over 300 notices have been issued to market vendors and tenants to produce legal documents and sign the new lease agreement at a new rate to bring an end to the mess in the market. The CCP still has to get approximately Rs 12 core from the municipal market through electricity and water bill and rent.
