Margao police disperse citizens protesting against the fee hike at the entrance of the Margao Municipal Council building. Captured by : Santosh Mirajkar
MARGAO
Citizens under the banner of Citizens and Taxpayers of Margao staged a protest against the Margao Municipal Council over the hike in fees, as they upped the ante in support of the demand for an immediate rollback of the hike.
A delegation of citizens also confronted Margao civic chief Damu Shirodkar over his statement made after the February 27 council meeting that the council had only hiked the fees by 10-15 per cent. Pointing out that the civic body should stick to the 10-15 per cent fee hike as decided at the council meeting, the citizens stated that any deviation in the rates should be placed before the council for an amendment.
The citizens have further intensified the ongoing agitation, saying they will help the traders write to the council, stating they are refusing to pay the notified fees since they are not as per the council’s decision.
Armed with banners and placards, a group of citizens assembled at the entrance to the Margao Municipal building to demand a rollback of the fees and to refund the extra fees charged by the civic body. The Margao police told the protesters to disperse from the building entrance and made them stand at the entrance to the municipal garden. Unfazed by the police action, the citizens continued their protest against the fee hike and demanded a refund.
In the meantime, a delegation of citizens led by former MMC chairperson Savio Coutinho was allowed to meet chairperson Shirodkar in his chamber later in the day. During the meeting, the citizens questioned the validity of Shirodkar’s claims that the fee hike was minimal.
“If the hike was only 10-15 per cent, how come the MMC has hiked the fees from 55 per cent to 550 per cent on some of the services?” they questioned.
“This is just the beginning of the civic disobedience movement. We will intensify our movement by asking traders to send letters to the Council refusing to pay the fees since they are not by the council meeting decision,” Coutinho said.
Another citizen, Andrew Sequeira, slammed the civic body for effecting a hike in the fees against the decision taken by the council. He also criticised the police for dispersing the protestors from the MMC building entrance to the garden, accusing the men in uniform of succumbing to pressure.
Sanitation fees
'lies' exposed
Continuing the tirade against the MMC Chairperson Damu Shirodkar for his blatant lies, citizens on Thursday said it was the Margao Civic Chief himself who had raised the sanitation fees for residential premises from Rs. 600/- to 900/- in April 2023.
"During our meeting with the Chairperson yesterday, the MMC Chief so confidently said that the hike in sanitation fees was effected during the tenure of the previous Council. At that point of time we also were convinced that Shirodkar may have been telling the truth. Now upon a little research we realize that the hike was effected during the tenure of Damodar Shirodkar himself, in April 2023”, citizens said.
they further stated that the Chairperson has been lying about the Collection that is coming into the Municipal treasury since the 2nd of April. “The Chairperson is quoting exaggerated figures trying to persuade aggrieved taxpayers to pay their enhanced dues. The queues at the MMC counter is for the payment of house tax, and hardly any traders are seen paying the trade/signboard licence fees”, the citizens added.
