MARGAO: In an interesting development, despite an FIR being lodged over the failure to deposit Rs 17 lakh, collected as fees from vendors at the recent feast fair, back into the government treasury, the Margao Municipal Council (MMC) is now moving ahead with initiating the process to terminate the service of the staff member accused of embezzling the amount.
It has been nearly a month since the incident, and the Margao Police have not yet arrested the accused. However, the civic body is of the opinion that if the accused is arrested, it could become even more challenging to recover the substantial amount of money from the feast fair.
Damodar Shirodkar, Chairperson of the Margao Municipal Council, informed O Heraldo that the process to submit a note regarding the termination of the concerned staff member has been initiated. This indicates the council’s determination to address the issue of the unreturned Rs 17 lakh to the government treasury.
It is noteworthy that the ‘A’ class Margao Municipal Council has been embroiled in another scandal, as it was revealed that the fees collected at the recent feast fair were not deposited into the municipal treasury.
Nearly Rs 17.96 lakh, which was collected as fees from vendors at the feast fair, ended up in the bank accounts of municipal staff instead of being deposited into the municipal treasury. During the fair, the municipality initially collected a substantial sum of nearly Rs 28.5 lakh in fees from these stalls. As per protocol, a sum of Rs 10 lakh was diligently collected in the early days of the fair. However, the subsequent mishandling of the remaining funds has led to a significant financial discrepancy.
After continuous demands from citizens and city fathers, Chief Officer Gaurish Sankhwalkar had officially filed a police complaint with the Margao Police Station. An FIR was registered against the accused under section 408 of the IPC for criminal breach of trust and section 420 for cheating.
On Tuesday, the Chairperson stated that the accused, who is a staff member of the civic body, failed to deposit the money despite being given ample opportunities to do so.
“He was not arrested with the consideration that recovering the money would be more challenging,” he stated, emphasizing that a substantial amount of Rs. 17.96 lakh still remains unrecovered.
He mentioned that the office has initiated the process to draft a note for terminating the service of the staff member in question and to recover the outstanding amount accordingly.
“We will not tolerate such incidents in the near future,” said the Chairperson firmly.
