Building corridors are being used to stack important documents and records
the goan I network
MARGAO
The over century-old Margao Municipal Council building, a heritage structure built during the Portuguese era, is facing a problem of sorts -- space constraint to house the thousands of official files and documents piling in the civic body over the years.
The cupboards are all full with thousands of official files and important records and whatever little space available in the civic body is being utilised to store the important decades old records. Left with little option, the building corridors have come in handy for the civic babus to stack the records in the cupboards. And, since the future does not look bright, with no solution forthcoming from the government and municipal authorities, municipal staff and dealing clerks manning the various sections look forward for the powers that be and the government to address the burning space problem before the situation goes out of control.
The worst hit being the Municipal taxation section, followed by the Administrative and Births and Deaths sections. A look at the corridor adjoining the taxation section would reveal the worst scenario. Old cupboards stacked with documents and records are all dumped in the corridor, occupying whatever little space available around.
The situation is no different at the adjoining administrative section. Official files have piled up all around the administration section, hit by the space constraint. The sanitary section and not to mention the accounts section are also hit by space constraint.
The Goan understands that the Municipal authorities had written to the government for a solution in order to tide over the situation arising out of the space problem. Correspondence was made to the Accounts department as well as the State Registrar’s office how to deal with the mounds of files piling in the civic body.
While the Directorate of Accounts has got back to the civic body stating that files and documents pertaining to accounts needs to be disposed of as per the Accounts Code in force, other departments are yet to reply back to the Municipality till date.
Says Chief Officer Johnson Fernandes: “The Accounts department has advised the civic body to invoke the Accounts Code to dispose of the account files. This implies that vouchers and other documents, which are 10-year-old can be disposed of.”
The Chief Officer, however, is aware of the bigger problems staring at the civic body on the question of storing the official documents. Johnson knows for sure that the thousands of house tax files, trade licence, births and deaths cannot be just disposed
of and the same needs to be preserved and stored in the civic body.
“We are still awaiting replies from the government departments concerning Births and Deaths and other section. Let us wait and see whether they offer any suggestions to deal with the old files and documents,” he added.
