MARGAO
A Margao Municipal Council Lower Division Clerk (LDC), who defaulted in depositing the revenue collection from the Purumentachem fest fair, pegged around Rs 17-odd lakh, has been placed under suspension by the civic body on Tuesday.
MMC Chief Officer Gaurish Sankhwalkar has further threatened to initiate criminal proceedings against the LDC if he fails to make good the money in the Municipal treasury at the earliest.
Chief Officer Sankhwalkar on Tuesday issued the order suspending the LDC after he failed to deposit the revenue collection, amounting to Rs 17.40 lakh in the Municipal treasury.
The Chief Officer informed that the LDC was given time till Tuesday to deposit the money in the Municipal treasury, adding, “Since the employee did not deposit the money, he has been placed under suspension.”
In the meantime, the Chief Officer said he has asked the civic officials to find out the receipts and tally the collection made by the MMC from the Purumentachem fest fair. “Once this process is completed, maybe in the next three-four days, we will move for criminal action against the LDC by lodging a police complaint,” he said.
To a question, the Chief Officer said the LDC was given sufficient time to deposit the amount in the municipal treasury, but in vain.
To a question whether the episode has exposed the chinks in the Margao Municipal administration over absence of checks and balances, Sankhwalkar said, “The LDC’s immediate officers had questioned him over the revenue, but every time he had replied that the amount is deposited.”
Sadly, none of the officials had cross-checked whether the LDC had deposited the amount in the MMC treasury when the revenue collection from the fair was in progress.
