the goan I network
MARGAO
The Cuncolim Municipal Council courted yet another major controversy after the Council headed by Chairperson Polita Carneiro constituted the statutory Standing and Subjects committees seven months after her election to the hot seat when the Goa Municipalities Act mandates the chairperson to call a special meeting of the Council within seven days to put these panels in place.
While Polita took over the reigns of office on April 26, 2017, the Standing Committee and the Subjects committees were constituted only on Wednesday - around seven months after she assumed office as the CMC chairperson.
Questions are being raised in the corridors of the Cuncolim civic body whether the failure to constitute the statutory panels will have any bearing on the decisions adopted by the chairperson during the last seven months.
The opposition led by ex-chairperson Lavita Mascarenhas raised the issue at the Wednesday meeting of the Council called to constitute the Standing and Subjects committees. Lavita slammed the ruling Council for bypassing the mandatory provision of the Goa Municipalities Act by not constituting the statutory panels. She has demanded to know whether the financial expenditure done by the civic body without the nod of the Standing Committee, including the purchase of a new car, is not in violation of the Goa Municipalities Act.
Questions have also been raised how the major lapse by the elected chairperson had escaped the attention of the Chief Officer Shankar Gaonkar, who is supposed to guide the elected Council on the provisions of the Goa Municipalities Act.
When The Goan contacted Chief Officer Gaonkar to shed light on the seven-month delay in constituting the Standing Committee when the law mandates the civic body to put the statutory panels in place within seven days, he said the chairperson was under the impression that it is not required to hold election for the Standing Committee since he was automatically presiding over the panel given her status as the Municipal chairperson. Gaonkar, however, hastened to add that he tried to impress upon the chairperson about the mandatory provision of the Goa Municipalities Act, but in vain.
Asked to reply to claims made by the opposition that the failure to constitute the Standing Committee may render the financial decisions open for questioning, Gaonkar said "most of the decisions were taken, including the decision to purchase a new car in concurrence with the Council".
The chairperson was not available for comment, but ex-vice chairperson and member of the seven-member ruling group, Mario Moraes, attributed the delay in constituting the Standing Committee to misunderstanding on the provisions of the Act.
