SCM alleges conspiracy in MMC’s 8 lakh expenditure during lockdown

Margao: Shadow Council for Margao (SCM) asked all Margao Municipal Council (MMC) citizens, to identify and felicitate any of the outgoing councillors, who have taken the initiative of cooking and serving food to the stranded and homeless people during the lockdown.

While deploring the outgoing council for all the alleged manipulative schemes that they designed to siphon out public funds, SCM sought to know who among the outgoing councillors members had cooked and served food.  

“We wonder as to who could have been the Chef of this “cooked story”, which has cost the public exchequer Rs 8 lakhs”, quipped SCM Convener Savio Coutinho.

He was referring to the Rs 8 lakhs that has been claimed to have been spent by the 25 MMC councillors for cooking and serving food to the homeless people. A note dated April 23 2020, moved by MMC Chairperson Pooja Naik stated that the 25 outgoing councillors procured a dry ration for the purpose of cooking meals and distributed the same in their respective wards. 

“An amount of Rs 32,000 was approved and spent for each ward, Coutinho added. 

He further stated that while the government officially sanctioned funds for the supply of food to the stranded and homeless people, the authorities manning the shelter at the Indoor stadium complex at Navelim were seeking cooperation from NGOs and other social organizations to supply food to the stranded people there.

“No doubt some councillors were seen distributing groceries to their voters, however in doing so they were very clearly stating that the groceries have been supplied by the respective MLAs, so where did the money from the municipal treasury go, Coutinho questioned.

“In the month of May, when we had learnt about this scandal getting cooked, we had filed an RTI application seeking information about the same. However on June 6, we were informed that the concerned file was not traceable. Interestingly, this file not only resurfaced, but the Rs 8 lakhs also got cleared on October 9,” Coutinho pointed out. 

“We have now applied afresh, for details about this dubious scheme, and the necessary course of action shall be decided thereafter,” he added.