MARGAO
In a major development, the Margao Municipal Council called off the sopo (occupation fees) collection auction on Friday morning after Chairperson Pooja Naik put up a note to the Chief Officer Ajit Panchwadkar claiming that her name has been fraudulently used in the tender notice when she has not signed the notice.
In fact, the sopo auction was postponed at the eleventh hour when the bidders had all come in the municipal hall to participate in the exercise, only to be later told by the accounts and taxation officer (ATO), Abay Rane, that it has been called off.
This follows the note put up by the MMC Chairperson on Friday morning, as she threatened to file a police complaint and seek legal recourse if the Chief Officer did not refrain from opening the tender and hold the auction.
While ATO Rane claimed that the auction has been postponed to a future date as the MMC Chairperson has raised some queries, including the question that the resolution to hold the auction has not yet been confirmed, Pooja said she put up the note to the Chief Officer as her name has been fraudulently used in the auction notice.
Addressing the media, Pooja said the Tender Notice No MMC/TAX/SOPO/2020-21/356 dated 19/08/2020 has been published on 21st August 2020 in local dailies, stating that she has seen the tender notice.
“I would like to bring on record that the file pertaining to the tender was not cleared/signed by me nor approved in the council meeting of Margao Municipal Council. My name has been fraudulently used in the tender notice No MMC/TAX/SOPO/2020-21/356 dated 19/08/2020,” she said.
In fact, the Chairperson said the CO may produce the file pertaining to the tender notice before her for an inquiry. And, she warned the CO to refrain from opening the tender, threatening to file a police complaint in this regard and also take appropriate legal recourse.
Bidder Milagres Fernandes cried foul over the MMC’s eleventh-hour decision to postpone the sopo auction, demanding to know whether Niz Goemkars and a son-of-the-soil cannot participate in the Margao municipality’s sopo auction.
“After having completed all the formalities, we had come today for the auction, only to be told that it has been postponed,” Milagres said while urging the government to order an inquiry into the episode and initiate appropriate action in the mater.
