Margao municipal admin hit; 116 posts have lapsed!

Team Herald

MARGAO: The smooth functioning of ‘A’ class Margao Municipal Council (MMC) administration has been affected, as 116 posts have lapsed for the last several years. And to add to this, the civic body appears to have adopted a “casual attitude” to fill the same. 

Admitting that the above posts have lapsed with no timely procedure, MMC Chief Officer, Rohit Kadam said he would move a note to the government to revive some important posts at the earliest. 

MMC chairperson Lyndon Pereira said the officers at the administrative level should have initiated the process without any delay, which they failed to do. 

On the other hand, councillors feel it will be very difficult to revive the lapsed posts, but the council should be serious in filling them. 

It is pertinent to note that MMC which is ‘A’ class municipality is running its administration with only 100 permanent staff. There are allegations that these lapses have occurred due to negligence from the part of some officials from the administrative section. 

It has been further revealed that this municipality has sanctioned manpower of nearly 400 staff, however, no timely filling up of the vacant posts left the civic body to run its administration with less number of staff, resulting in a major setback to the administrative works.  

Of the 400 sanctioned staff, nearly 100 are engaged in duties as a permanent in services. Shockingly, ‘D’ class staff is seen engaged in handling the responsibilities which they are not supposed to do. According to sources in the civic body, many are waiting for promotions for the last several years, and are forced to handle additional charge. 

The important posts which need to be filled are superintendents, head clerks and librarian at the municipal library. Of five market inspectors, two posts are vacant for the past many years besides this the civic body is short of few supervisors. 

There are lapses pertaining to the posts of assistant electrician, plumber, gardeners and carpenters. 

“Yes, we are facing a tough time in running the administration and other works due to shortage of staff in the municipality”, said Kadam. 

He said the lapses in the posts need to be revived to run the administration smoothly. 

The Chief Officer said in this regard, he will move a note to the government, at least to revive the important posts, for which council also needs to take resolution. 

Blaming the previous councils, Councillor Ghanashyam Shirodkar said, “More than 100 posts have lapsed over the years, and it seems that the previous council has done hardly anything to revive them. All posts should have been filled up within the time frame. However, now it is high time that the Chief Officer takes this issue seriously pertaining to filling up the present vacant post immediately.”