MARGAO
Margao Municipal Council Chief Officer Gaurish Sankhwalkar has been finally transferred out of the civic body after presiding over the Municipal administration for a little over a year.
Interestingly, former MMC Chief Officer Ajit Panchwadkar, who was shunted out of the civic body in September 2020, has returned back to the hot seat after three and half years.
While Sankhwalkar has been transferred and posted as the Chief Executive Officer, South Goa Zilla Panchayat, Ajit Panchwadkar will continue to preside as the Director, Social Department and will hold additional charge as Margao Municipal Chief Officer.
What brought the change in administrative guard at the Margao Municipal Council remains unknown, though sources said Chief Officer Sankhwalkar wanted to move out of the civic body, more so after his posting to the senior grade cadre.
Sources said Ajit Panchwadkar had presided over the administrative affairs of the MMC during the Covid pandemic. In fact, he was appointed as the Incident Commandant during the Covid pandemic, but was later shunted out of office after a video of his birthday celebrations went viral.
Questions, however, remains unanswered why the government has decided to appoint a new chief officer with an additional charge of the MMC when the councillors have been insisting on full-fledged officers to meet the administrative requirements.
In fact, councillors had in the past raised serious reservations over the appointment of South Goa Additional Collectors to hold additional charge of chief officer of the Margao Municipal Council.
