MARGAO
Can Margao city fathers and the civic babus explain to Madgavkars why has Margao Municipal Council’s Sopo revenue collection never crossed half-a-crore rupee mark till date, when even B Class civic bodies in smaller towns across the state have been earning handsome revenue from the collection of occupation fees?
This question assumes significance and comes against the backdrop of the fact that the Margao municipality is bracing up to auction its Sopo collection with an upset price of Rs 44 lakh excluding GST two days from now when a B-class municipal body such as Mapusa is believed to have reportedly auctioned its Sopo for a little over Rs one crore in the current financial year.
That’s not all. Information revealed that smaller towns such as Quepem, Canacona and Ponda too have garnered huge revenues from Sopo auction. While Canacona municipality is believed to have awarded the contractor for around Rs 36 lakh, Quepem did not lag behind, with its Sopo collection pegged around Rs 30 lakh.
Ponda Municipality, despite the tug of war between the vendors, is believed to have managed to auction its Sopo for close to Rs 30 lakh, around Rs 28.30 lakh to be precise.
With the civic bodies in the smaller towns posting an impressive performance on the Sopo auction front, the question that arises is whether there are not many takers for the Margao municipality auction despite the fact that the city enjoys the status as the State’s commercial capital. Or, is the civic body deprived of the Sopo revenue with unscrupulous bidders forming “syndicates” to control and manipulate the auction, denying the civic body of the precious revenue?
That the Margao civic body’s annual Sopo collection has not crossed the half-a-crore rupee mark ought to have been a subject matter for debate in the corridors of the civic body as the State’s commercial capital draws vendors and hawkers from far and wide, with a dream to make a living in and around the city’s bustling markets.
Indeed, the commercial capital had been playing host to hawkers from outside the state and vendors from the state’s hinterland talukas, and not to mention the vendors from Salcete’s countryside earning a livelihood in the city.
If a MMC official is to be believed, the Mapusa civic body has awarded the Sopo contract for around Rs Rs 1.19 crore excluding the feast fairs.
“Why is there no study carried out by the civic body to ascertain why revenue from Sopo collection by the Margao Municipality has not kept pace with the status of the city as the State’s capital. Illegal vendors and hawkers swarming the markets is an open secret, which brings handsome revenue to the Sopo contractor. Still, the civic body should find out why the Sopo revenue collection has not registered a rise compared to the smaller towns,” remarked a civic official.
CO Johnson may revert to allotting fair stalls through MMC
MARGAO: Will Margao Chief Officer Johnson Fernandes finally put his foot down and revert back to the civic body the right to allot stalls for the feast fairs, beginning with the Holy Spirit fair scheduled next month?
For reasons best known to the city fathers, stalls for the feast fairs of Holy Spirit and Immaculate Conception at the Old Market were being outsourced since the last two years when the right to allot the stalls rests with the civic body.
Incumbent Chief Officer, Johnson Fernandes is believed to have now drawn up a plan to revert back to the old practice when the municipality used to allot the stalls to prospective hawkers upon payment of prescribed fees, while allowing the Sopo contractor to collect only the sopo during the 10-day feast fair.
If sources are to be believed, the CO has already moved a note to the Chairperson disclosing plans to revert back the practice of allotting the feast fair stalls to the civic body. That the CO means business is evident by the fact that he has moved the note well ahead of the feast fair scheduled next month, indicating that the civic body is ready to allot the stalls at the fair departmentally.
