The shareholders were hoping to receive their dividends after the Administrator of Comunidades (South) had issued a notification for disbursement of dividends on February 1, 2 and 3.
However, sources told Herald that the Administrator Vishant Gaunkar allegedly refused to countersign the cheques for payment of dividends, on grounds that the Comunidade of Sancoale should first pay the ‘derrama’, a contribution towards the running of the administration office.
When contacted, South Goa Collector Venancio Furtado, who is also the head of the District Civil Administration, said he would get in touch with the administrator on the issue.
Incidentally, the issue of payment of dividend vis-à-vis ‘deramma’ had been long settled and it was held that the dividend and ‘derrama’ could not be related.
“This issue has been long settled. The previous collector N D Agarwal had directed disbursement of dividends without linking it to ‘derrama’. There is an order of the Administrative Tribunal and there is also an assurance from the present revenue minister in the Assembly not to link dividends to the ‘derrama’,” said Joao Philip Pereira, a component of the Comunidade of Sancoale.
“Even under Art 100(2), it is very clear that dividend and ‘derrama’ cannot be correlated. The ‘derramas’ have to be paid from the agriculture income of the comunidades, and not from the interest generated by the comunidades. However, the agriculture income has been virtually ceased after the Agriculture Tenancy Act,” he added.
Some shareholders have hoped that the government would prevail over the administrator to countersign the cheques on Friday, which is the last working day of the month.
However, neither Deputy Chief Minister Francis D’Souza nor the Administrator could be contacted for comments in the matter.
Incidentally, the controversy over non-payment of dividend had also figured during the previous Congress-led government.
