MARGAO: The municipal election order has been issued to the Margao Municipal Council, which, among other things, directs the chief officer to collect all dues that the sitting councillors owe to the municipality.
The election programme was published on the web a couple of days ago. However, the MMC received the programme only on Wednesday afternoon.
The chief officer told Herald that the councillors have been directed to pay their dues by September 25. The councillors will be allowed to file their nominations only after paying all the dues to the municipality.
The councillors are required to pay all their dues and get a ‘No Dues’ certificate from the MMC, before the ‘model code of conduct’ comes into force.
According to municipal sources, many of the councillors are defaulters of various taxes. Some of the councillors have paid soon after the dates of elections were declared.
In the past, the councillors had resolved not return the official SIM cards provided by the MMC. When asked, Chief Officer Yashwant Tawde he said, “The councillors can be allowed to retain the numbers.”
Meanwhile, the political climate in Margao is calm presently as the notification of ward reservations is yet to be published.
However, many of the sitting councillors learnt to have informed their relatives, friends and supporters of their intentions to contest the ensuing municipal election. Some of them have already started their election preparations, say sources.
