MARGAO, APRIL 8
Believe it or not, perhaps the first time in the history of Margao Municipal Council, a stenographer has accepted the nomination papers for elections to the post of vice-Chairperson for want of the Chief Officer.
At the time of filling of nomination papers, the Chief Officer Prasanna Acharya was found absence in his office. Councilor Raju Naik, who had come to submit his papers along with the Chairperson and other Councilors, had no option than to hand over the nomination papers to the lady stenographer.
It is learnt that the Chief Officer could not make it to the Civic body as he to attend a court matter. Sources in the know said the Chief Officer made his presence felt in the Civic body later in the day to put his signature on the acceptance of nomination papers.
Questions are being raised why another senior officer was not asked to play the role of accepting the nomination papers instead of assigning the job to a steno.
The episode drew strong reaction from the City Fathers who demanded the immediate transfer of the Chief Officer. The City Fathers cried foul over the matter and demanded that the Chief Officer be shunted out forthwith from the Civic body.
Councilor Raju Naik lamented over the sorry state of Margao Municipal administration, but pinned his hopes on the Chief Minister to take a decision on a new chief officer.
“Enough is enough. The Civic administration has hit a low for the first time. It is perhaps the first that a Chief Officer could not make it to accept the nomination papers of candidates. We have drawn the attention of the Chief Minister to the prevailing situation in the Civic body. Let us wait and watch”, Naik said.
His colleague councilor Ramdas Hazare echoed similar sentiments and said the absence of a full-fledged Chief Officer has crippled the Civic administration. “The incumbent Chief Officer Prasanna Acharya is not coming to the Civic body for a long time now. Complaints are galore that the CO is not attending to the public at all. Hundreds of citizens come to the Municipality for various works at this part of the year, including correction of names, payment of taxes etc, but there is no Chief Officer to attend to public grievances”, Hazare added.
