MARGAO
The Margao Municipal Council on Monday carried out a demonstration of the newly-inducted vehicles for cleaning of city-pavements and footpaths, but the vehicles have thrown up a host of questions in the corridors of the civic body.
One, questions are being raised about whether the municipality has complied with the codal formalities by floating a tender before inducting the two vehicles.
If the MMC claims that it has not purchased the vehicles, but has entered into an agreement with the private agency for maintenance, the municipality has a question to answer -- whether it can make a payment of Rs eight lakh for maintenance when rules mandate calling for e-tenders for works above Rs five lakh.
Senior municipal officials have claimed that the Goa Finance Rules provide for circumventing the tendering process if the service in question is a specialized one. Sources, however, wonder whether the GFR rule 204 applies to agencies whose vehicles have been taken under the Annual Maintenance Contract (AMC).
Assuming that the MMC has gone in for the two vehicles given the 75th Independence Day celebration, questions are being raised about whether the occasion was an urgency to invoke rule 204 of the GFR to get the vehicles sans codal formalities.
Questions are being further raised about whether the cost of the vehicles is being recovered via the AMC entered into with the agency for an amount of Rs eight lakh. A senior MMC official informed that the civic body has paid the amount to the agency. In return, the civic body is believed to have taken a cheque from the agency.
Questions are being asked about whether the accounts section remained a silent spectator as the civic body went about entering the AMC with the agency. Or, whether the strong objection from the accounts department was overruled by the higher officials by ordering the accounts section to issue the cheques.
Further questions are raised about whether it is not mandatory to sign an agreement after completing all the formalities, such as the presentation of the bills, its certification, drawing of the vouchers and the payment of the bills.
While witnessing the demonstration at the Opinion Poll square on Monday, Fatorda MLA Vijai Sardesai referred to the media reports on the question of whether the civic body had completed the formalities but said he will not go into the issues, saying he would be happy if the vehicles deliver the results.
Incidentally, a glance at the agenda of the August 22 meeting shows that the council was to decide on the purchase of the two Bio clean e-tank, when Margao MLA Digambar Kamat had already inaugurated the vehicles on August 15.
Margao Municipal councillors in private say they had given the nod to purchase the vehicles but hastened to add that the issues of tenders and codal formalities fall in the domain of the municipal administration.
When the media on Monday asked outgoing Chairperson Lyndon Pereira to shed light on the vehicles, he only said the council has sought the services of the agencies to supply two vehicles, one each at Margao and Fatorda.
