MARGAO: Khell tiatrists who recently performed at the Carnival programme organised by the Margao Municipal Council, are once again up in arms as they claim that they have not been paid their dues.
This is not the first time that the performers have been forced to plead for their rightful compensation. In 2010 and the subsequent years as well, there have been instances when the khell tiatrists were not paid after being contracted to perform during the Carnival festivities.
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Frustrated by the delay in payment, some directors of the Khell Tiatr are now knocking on the doors of MMC Chairperson Damodar Shirodkar to expedite the process so that they can clear their bills. On Tuesday, one of the directors was seen in the Chairperson’s cabin, pleading for his dues amounting to nearly Rs 1.35 lakh, which he had earned by performing his khell-tiatr in nine wards of the Margao Municipality.
The Chairperson and Chairman of the Carnival Committee, Damodar Shirodkar and Camilo Barretto, respectively, have defended themselves by stating that the civic body has already forwarded the bills to the Tourism Department but has not received the money yet.
“After the Carnival, the civic body had immediately forwarded all the bills to the Tourism Department, out of which few have been cleared and some are yet to be paid,” said Shirodkar.
It is to be noted that it has been nearly two months since Carnival and Khell tiatr were held in all the 25 wards as part of the civic body’s decision to keep the ‘intruz’ tradition alive.
Moreover, other musicians and artists are also facing a tough time paying their bills as they too are awaiting money from the civic body. MMC is the first civic body to start the procedure of clearing the bills, as many other Municipalities are yet to forward their bills to the Tourism Department.
