the goan I network
MARGAO
For long, Madgavkars in general had faced the brunt of the Margao Municipal Council (MMC), with correspondence getting misplaced and files disappearing in the corridors of the civic body.
Chief Officer (CO) Siddivinayak Naik, the administrative head of the Municipal body, has realized the bitter truth, as he faces a warrant by the High Court for his failure to appear before the court in a Public Interest Litigation (PIL).
As it has turned out, the Chief Officer has found to his shock and surprise that the High Court notice, which was sent to the civic body on December 6, was not brought to his notice by the concerned staff resulting in the issuance of the warrant against him by the HC.
While the notice asking him to appear before the HC was sent to the civic body on December 6, the CO has found out that the notice was not marked to him and has now been found in the office of the taxation.
Taking a serious cognizance of the lapse, CO Naik has said he would issue a show cause notice on two civic officials, who are responsible to scan the daily mail and forward the same to the office of the Chief Officer.
“I had issued specific instructions to the staff that daily mail pertaining to court matters should not go to any other section, but directly to my office. In this instant case, the HC notice had never come to my office,” the Chief Officer said.
Sources in the know said that this is not the first time that correspondence of citizens made to the civic body has been misplaced in the corridors of the Municipality. In fact, Chairperson Babita Prabhudesai is believed to have cited an instance wherein a letter from the office of the Chief Minister inviting the chairpersons of Municipal Councils for a meeting was not brought to her notice.
Files going missing from the corridors of the civic body are not uncommon, with citizens complaining of their missing files is literally the order of the day at the MMC.
