PANAJI
United Goans Foundation (UGF) has claimed that the Deputy Chief Minister and other officials from Mapusa Municipal Council (MMC) were involved in illegally allotting shops and stalls in the new market complex under the Rehabilitation Scheme, and has filed a complaint with the Vigilance Department in this regard.
According to the Foundation, around seven stalls of 8 sq mt each were allocated to individuals without auction on the false pretext of rehabilitation between the years 2013 and 2015. They cited the example of one Umesh Mayekar who was allocated five shops of 8 sq mt as compensation for his 43 sq mt shop.
“In order to compensate for 3 sq mt, MMC and DMA allotted an additional shop in spite of it being less than 50 per cent area of the allotted shops,” said foundation secretary Avinash Tavares.
He also pointed to the case of Banudas Kalangautkar who had expired in 1991. He had a moving cart on which a kiosk was constructed by one Yeshwant Mandrekar who had bought it from Kalangautkar, thus not making him eligible for the scheme.
In their complaint, UGF have said that the municipal council in connivance with the Chief Officer passed an arbitrary resolution and manipulated facts in order to allocate shops without auction to only a select few on the false pretext under the Rehabilitation Scheme.
“The DMA and Deputy CM chose to overlook all the objections and earlier notices and circulars, especially the one stating that the scheme is a one-time settlement,” pointed out Tavares, adding that it amounted to preferential treatment.
Meanwhile, also supporting the foundation was Mapusa People’s Union, who promised to try and ensure victory for atleast two of their five candidates contesting the upcoming municipal elections.
“There is a lot of corruption involved in several wards of the municipality, and this needs to stop. We have put up five candidates from our organization in selected wards and are hoping that atleast two of them win. We need to rid this municipality of any corruption,” said member of the union Jawaharlal Shetye.
