PANAJI
On Wednesday the finance department approved the release of of Rs 120 crore to the salaries of government servants in view of Diwali bringing in a move that is likely to bring a smile on the faces of government servants ahead of the festival of light.
On the other hand, however, Chairman of the Goa Handicraft Rural and Small Scale Industries Development Corporation and Ponda MLA Lavoo Mamledar confirmed that they are yet to receive funds from the government which has
resulted in the Corporation not being able to pay salaries for over two months.
“Ours is a Corporation that is completely dependent on grants from government. We are yet to receive around Rs 60-lakh in dues and as a result have not been able to pay salaries,” Mamledar told The Goan. “There is severe drop in revenue as handicraft sales have come down. The major source of income for the corporation was eel which was to be mandatorily purchased by contractors working for PWD and GSIDC,” Lavu Mamlatdar said.
“Contractors have stopped purchasing steel from us. We have made various representations to Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar asking him either to make it mandatory for the contractors to buy the steel from us or at least release the pending grants,” he said.
