MARGAO: The two-hour long special meeting of Margao Municipal Council (MMC) descended into chaos after a decision was taken to waive off dues to be paid by the sopo contractor between April and August 2021 on humanitarian ground due to COVID-19 pandemic.
This was followed by two other controversial decisions, the first being to postpone the auction of the sopo contract tender that was scheduled for next week, by three months, thereby extending his term until the next auction. The second decision was to re-insert a condition stating that only those vendors with three years experience can bid for the sopo tender.
All these discussions took place towards the end of the meeting, which culminated after the furious opposition councillors staged a walkout.
Just before that, opposition councillor Sadanand (Paklo) demanded that the councillors vote on the issue. Chairperson Lyndon Pereira called for the vote which saw 16 councillors voting in favour of the waiver, 7 voting against it whereas Councillor Ghanashyam Shirodkar abstained from voting.
Incidentally, Shirodkar, who was most vociferous speaker at the meeting, pulled up the council for a typing mistake wherein they had written the amount the contractor has to pay MMC as Rs 6.35 thousand per month when the figure is actually Rs 6.35 lakh.
Shirodkar also pointed out that if the waiver is allowed, it comes up to Rs 32 lakh of revenue that the MMC will lose.
He also said the MMC’s decision to allow the contractor to extend his contract can be challenged legally as there is a mandatory clause for 25 per cent increase but only a 5 pre cent increase is being asked for.
Earlier on in the meeting, the Chairperson, Chief Officer (CO) Agnelo Fernandes and senior officials such as the accounting staff were placed under the scanner by Shirodkar and others for the numerous typing errors in the proposed Budget.
They were also asked to explain how the Budget has a deficit of Rs 6.5 crore and from where the municipality will get the funds for the proposed expenditure.
Shirodkar also criticised the CO for not adhering to the law. The estimated Budget was thus passed with a request to the Directorate of Municipal Administration to condole the delay given the procedural lapses that the CO and chairperson acknowledged. Suggestions were also given on increasing revenue, cutting down on expenditure while the Recovery Officer stated that the council had recovered Rs 1.83 crore in outstanding house tax in the last three months. Emphasis was laid on the council not suffering financial setbacks. The council was also asked to track displaced gadda owners who are in need of rehabilitation as per the High Court order and for which Rs 30 lakh is allotted.
