MARGAO
Even as the Margao police initiated a probe into the theft of Rs 50,000 from the taxation section of the Margao municipal building, the incident has thrown up a moot question – how come the two defective cameras in the taxation section and the adjoining birth section escaped the attention of the Margao municipal chairperson and the Chief Officer?
The episode has brought to the fore another moot question – whether a dedicated official should be put in charge of the cameras for constant monitoring of the movements of staff and officials instead of the Chairperson and Chief Officer, in whose absence the movement goes unmonitored?
For, two camera monitors lay installed in the chamber of Chairperson Damu Shirodkar and Chief Officer Manuel Barretto to monitor the staff and officials during working hours.
Monday’s theft in broad daylight has thrown up the question of why the two non-functioning cameras failed to draw the attention of the Municipal Chairperson and Chief Officer if they were regularly monitoring. The episode has brought to the fore the charge that the CCTV facility is not put to the intended use, with only the camera on the first floor of the building corridor being monitored.
Inquiries by The Goan revealed that a total of 28 cameras were installed during the tenure of outgoing Chairperson Lyndon Pereira in May 2022 to mark the completion of one year in office.
Almost all the municipal sections have been covered by the cameras, including the parking lot in front of the MMC building.
“The cameras installed inside were meant to check the movement of the officials and staff and are not high-resolution security cameras. The objective behind the cameras was to keep a check on the movement of the officials to ensure they work from their designated places," sources informed.
Inquiries have further revealed that no complaint has gone from the MMC to the company which has installed the cameras to date, stating that the two cameras have not been functioning.
Incidentally, the corridor on the ground floor of the building is not under the scanner of the CCTV, with sources insisting the cameras installed are more related to monitoring the staff than serving the security purpose.
Says former MMC Chairperson, Lyndon Pereira: “The CCTV cameras were installed since there have been complaints from citizens that the employees are not found on their seats during office hours. But, just cameras will not prove effective unless they are closely monitored. That the two cameras have not been functioning only showed that they were not being monitored.”
