Around 300-odd cases. That’s the whopping number of cases pending before the Margao Municipal Council awaiting disposal for months and years now.
While Chief Officer Naveen S L, who has been appointed recently, has set on a course to streamline the administration in the civic body, the huge backlog of pending matters is a matter of concern for the citizens. What could bring relief to hapless citizens is the new toll free helpline.
Sources said that the pending cases are posing a challenge to the Chief Officer, who has taken the responsibility to provide a citizen-friendly administration.
When Herald drew the attention of the Chief Officer to the backlog of cases, he promised to find a way for their quick disposal. “These matters are basically quasi judicial. I will try to work out a system for effective disposal of pending matters,” Naveen said.
Sources said that many chief officers in the past had only resorted to adjournments without passing orders on the complaints received from citizens. It is learnt that not many orders have been passed in the last one year and the hearings have been continuing without arriving at any conclusion.
Many in the corridors of the Margao municipality said the case pertaining to the illegal structures of civic Chairperson Gonzaco Rebello is a classic example of matters getting dragged for months and years.
Records indicate that the complaint against the municipal chairperson was made around September 2013 when Deepali Naik was the Chief Officer, but the case has just dragged on for reasons known only to the civic babus.
