the goan I network
MARGAO
A Legislative Assembly Question (LAQ) seeking information concerning trade licenses issued by the Margao Municipal Council since 2015 till date has virtually kept civic officials kept on their toes.
With the lone photostat machine overstretched, dozens of files had to be ferried to the xerox stalls in the city to take copies of the official documents before the commencement of the ensuing Assembly session.
Take note that the LAQ does not just ask about the number of trade licenses issued by the Civic body since 2015 till date, but has sought details including the applications for trade licenses, the number of trade licenses issued along with the notings on the file.
That’s not all. The Civic body is required to make as many as four sets of information, with a copy for the Urban Development Minster, Director of Municipal Administration, one for the Member of the Legislative Assembly who raised the question and a copy for the record of the Municipality.
Sources in the know informed that the lone xerox machine in the municipality has photocopied around 1500 copies so far. That the municipality had to be outsourced to the private stalls outside is a pointer that the lone machine could not handle the work of copying the dozens of trade license files.
Though the exact purpose behind seeking information on trade licenses issued by the Margao civic body since 2015 is not clear, the exercise has indeed occupied the taxation section, with the staff according top priority to the job, more so when the information has been sought by the Assembly.
This is not the first time the civic body had to use its available resources in compiling information on the trade licenses issued by the municipality. A similar exercise last time around had cost the Margao Municipal Council a bomb, with private xerox stalls raising bills to the tune of thousands.
The current photocopying exercise is expected to be completed in a day or two.
