MARGAO
Is their hesitancy to head the Margao Municipal administration anything to do with the presence of two Ministers, three MLAs, 25 councillors, an unresponsive Municipal administration, the Sonsodo garbage mess, market encroachments, et al or simply these officers don't want to accept the challenge and take up the burning issues head on.
Barring retired bureaucrat Y B Tawde, who spent considerable years of his career in presiding over the affairs of the Margao civic body, before retiring on Ma
y 30 last, instances are galore how Chief Officers heading the Margao civic body have literally run away from the Municipality even before completing a year in office.
A glance at the Municipal records shows that as many as 22-23 Chief Officers have presided over the Margao Municipal administration during the last 12 years, indicating that extent of instability plaguing the civic administration over the years. The same question has come back to haunt the City Fathers and Madgavkars alike again with incumbent Chief Officer Agnelo Fernandes preferring to stay put as the South Goa Additional Collector after heading the administration for four months. And, sources in the know informed that Additional Collector-II Johnson Fernandes, who has been transferred and posted as Margao Municipal Chief Officer, is not at all keen in taking over the Municipal administration.
That's not all. No other senior officer, sources said, was willing to take up the responsibility of heading the Margao Municipal administration, leaving no option for the TCP Minister Vijai Sardesai to settle for Johnson Fernandes.
"At my Janata Darbar at the MMC earlier this week, I was asked by the citizens to appoint a dedicated Chief Officer for the MMC. When I gave the liberty to Chief Officer Agnelo Fernandes to decide, whether he would prefer to work as a dedicated CO, his reply was negative. Johnson is a good and efficient officer and I have brought him to the MMC with the specific task of resolving the Sonsodo garbage mess and tone up the revenue recovery mechanism. Let me tell you Johnson can go back as the Additional Collector once he puts things in order in the MMC and later on can even hold additional charge as Additional Collector, South," Sardesai added.
Sources in the know, however, say the bureaucrats are unwilling to head the Margao Municipal council over a host of reasons, right from political to administrative reasons and the messy situation in the commercial capital. "The administration has hit a low in the Margao Municipality. Besides, there are two ministers, Vijai Sardesai and Babu Azgaonkar, besides MLAs Digambar Kamat and Reginaldo Lourenco, who represent the city in one way or the other. Encroachments are galore in the city and officials in private say the traders are well connected to their political masters and the Municipal babus," remarked an official, demanding to know whether the officials ever enjoy a free hand to work in the civic body.
The TCP minister, however, reassured that Johnson Fernandes will receive cooperation and help from him, the government and the City Fathers. "The new officer will not be left in the lurch. He will be given the necessary help to achieve the desired objective," he added.
A glance at the Municipal records shows that as many as 22-23 Chief Officers have presided over the Margao Municipal administration during the last 12 years, indicating that extent of instability plaguing the civic administration over the years. The same question has come back to haunt the City Fathers and Madgavkars alike again with incumbent Chief Officer Agnelo Fernandes preferring to stay put as the South Goa Additional Collector after heading the administration for four months. And, sources in the know informed that Additional Collector-II Johnson Fernandes, who has been transferred and posted as Margao Municipal Chief Officer, is not at all keen in taking over the Municipal administration.
That's not all. No other senior officer, sources said, was willing to take up the responsibility of heading the Margao Municipal administration, leaving no option for the TCP Minister Vijai Sardesai to settle for Johnson Fernandes.
"At my Janata Darbar at the MMC earlier this week, I was asked by the citizens to appoint a dedicated Chief Officer for the MMC. When I gave the liberty to Chief Officer Agnelo Fernandes to decide, whether he would prefer to work as a dedicated CO, his reply was negative. Johnson is a good and efficient officer and I have brought him to the MMC with the specific task of resolving the Sonsodo garbage mess and tone up the revenue recovery mechanism. Let me tell you Johnson can go back as the Additional Collector once he puts things in order in the MMC and later on can even hold additional charge as Additional Collector, South," Sardesai added.
Sources in the know, however, say the bureaucrats are unwilling to head the Margao Municipal council over a host of reasons, right from political to administrative reasons and the messy situation in the commercial capital. "The administration has hit a low in the Margao Municipality. Besides, there are two ministers, Vijai Sardesai and Babu Azgaonkar, besides MLAs Digambar Kamat and Reginaldo Lourenco, who represent the city in one way or the other. Encroachments are galore in the city and officials in private say the traders are well connected to their political masters and the Municipal babus," remarked an official, demanding to know whether the officials ever enjoy a free hand to work in the civic body.
The TCP minister, however, reassured that Johnson Fernandes will receive cooperation and help from him, the government and the City Fathers. "The new officer will not be left in the lurch. He will be given the necessary help to achieve the desired objective," he added.
