the goan I network
MARGAO
The government does not lose a single opportunity to berate the Municipal bodies over the laxity in revenue collection running into crores of rupees. The Margao Municipal Council had been under the Urban Development Minister Francis D’Souza’s scanner for quite some time over the mounting tax arrears and the slow pace of recoveries.
But, hold on. It is a sheer coincidence that the Margao Municipal Council had been knocking the doors of the Director of Municipal Administration to sanction the salary grant as well as the Octroi due to the civic body. Taken together, the government owes to the MMC a whopping Rs 15 crore -- around Rs 11.52 crore by way of salary grant and Octroi pegged around Rs 3.5 crore.
Sources in the civic body informed that soon after taking over the reigns of office in July, MMC Chief Officer Sidhivinayak Naik had dashed of a letter to the Director of Municipal Administration, drawing the DMA’s attention to the pending salary grant and Octroi.
A glance at the Chief Officer’s letter gives an insight to the fact that the salary grant due to the Margao Municipality has been pending since April 2017. The grant pertains to the staff on deputation to the civic body, the common cadre and the Dearness Allowance to the Municipal employees. Around Rs 11 lakh due to the MMC concerns the arrears of the 7th Pay Commission in respect of the deputation and common cadre staff.
As far as the Octroi is concerned, sources in the civic body informed that there’s a delay in disbursing two installments of Octroi by the government. “We are keeping our fingers crossed whether the government would finally act in view of the letter written by the Chief Officer on sanction of salary grant to the civic body,” remarked a MMC official.
This is not the first time that there’s inordinate delay on the part of the government to sanction the salary grant to MMC. In the past too, the MMC had to shoulder the responsibility of making salary payments of the staff on deputation, besides the common cadre staff pending receipt of salary grant from government.
The average monthly salary bill of the A Class Margao Municipal Council is pegged around Rs 1.30 crore, including the salaries of the staff and employees, besides wages of the daily wage employees engaged by the civic body.
An upset MMC Chairperson Babita Prabhudesai has demanded to know how the local civic body is expected to arrange the huge salary bill when the government has been found wanting in disbursing the salary grant to the civic body for months together. “We are helpless as MMC’s monthly salary bill comes to a whopping Rs 1.30 crore,” Babita said, while hoping that the DMA will address the issue at the earliest.
The MMC chairperson was clear in saying that while the government has been pointing accusing fingers at the local Municipal bodies over the mounting tax arrears, the DMA has not been prompt in disbursing the salary grant to the A Class civic body.
