TEAM HERALD
teamherald@herald-goa.com
PANJIM: This year official Shigmo celebrations will be oraganised across the State by Government appointed committees, since the model election code of conduct is already in force. This will force the directorate of tourism to keep political heavyweights out of the place they love to be – on centre stage.
Days after the announcement of the election schedule and imposition of the model code of conduct, the tourism department stepped in to appoint government committees for Shigmo which have been directed not to liaison with the private committees of the previous year and to strictly adhere to the rules and regulations so that there would be no violation of the model code of conduct.
The first official Shigmo parade will begin from March 16 at Ponda.
The government committees could include staff from the respective municipal councils whose municipal areas have been selected as centres for the celebrations or government officials and teachers from government and aided schools on the screening committee that will award prizes.
This year three more centres have been included for Shigmo festivities —Tivim, Dharbandora and Shiroda.
The directorate of tourism has proposed various options to the government for constituting the committees as many employees of the municipal councils have already been called in for election duty. Hence the assistance of Block Development Officers has been sought.
The Directorate of Accounts has already expressed inability to spare its deputy director for the committee, and chairpersons of Shigmo committees have been directed to co-opt any government official, accountant or taxation officer form respective municipalities on the committees.
‘The municipalities may assign duties to the municipal staff and other government officials to volunteer to make various arrangements during the Shigmo celebrations for which an honorarium of Rs 250 per day may be sanctioned and be met out of grants provided to each centre,’ reads an order from the Tourism department.
The Tourism Department has further directed that the committee may co-opt any government officers, engineers and take all necessary decisions as regards to organsing of logistics, management, distribution of prizes, screening of floats etc by strictly following the model code of conduct.
