Team Herald
MARGAO: Taking serious note of the unrecovered funds, the Green Goa Foundation (GGF) on Wednesday demanded that the money related to the feast fair be recovered as soon as possible and called for actions to ensure that evidence of the alleged fraud is not tampered.
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In a letter to Melvin Vaz, the newly-appointed Margao Municipal Council Chief Officer, the NGO requested that the connected account officer be held accountable for the alleged fraud amounting to Rs 18 lakh.
The call for accountability highlights the Foundation’s determination to address financial misconduct and ensure proper oversight within the municipal council.
GGF chairman Raison Almeida informed the Chief Officer that their association had filed a writ petition before the High Court and noted
that their efforts contributed to streamlining the feast fair of Our Lady of Immaculate Conception in Margao.
Emphasising that the Foundation has been consistently raising concerns about the fraud due to negligence, Almeida
highlighted the GGF’s commitment to protecting public interest by ensuring accountability in such matters.
He said that it’s been several months since the GGF raised concerns in the public interest about frauds that were allegedly siphoned directly into the personal account of a private individual associated with the Margao Municipal Council.
He claimed that till date, no concrete action has been taken to recover the money from the two responsible officers.
“The salaries of council workers and the public service are given out from the council revenue. Though the staff has taken the money it is the direct responsibility of the officers to ensure that funds are not embezzled,” said Almeida.
The NGO alleged that with no action forthcoming, the general public perceives that the officer concerned is trying to manipulate evidence with the help of the account officer as there is no recovery of money till date.
“It is earnestly felt that as long as the account officer concerned continues to hold the charge, under whom fraud has occurred, it will be difficult for the authorities to recover the embezzled money due
to the gross negligence,” said Almeida.
