OLD GOA
NGO Goa Kul Mundkar Samiti has demanded a probe into the extension of service of a clerk in the Santa Cruz panchayat alleging that the same was done without following the procedure.
Addressing a media conference in Santa Cruz on Sunday, the spokesperson of the NGO Santosh Mandrekar informed that the said clerk had attained the age of 58 in November 2020.
“But, the clerk was given service extension by the panchayat in 2021 without following proper procedure,” Mandrekar alleged and added that it’s been 19 months now that the clerk is drawing a salary at the cost of the exchequer.
He further levelled allegations against the outgoing sarpanch Edwin Dias and the panchayat secretaries for not giving him proper information regarding the matter.
“The chief minister and the panchayat minister should initiate an inquiry into the matter and send the clerk home. They should also act against sarpanch Dias and the secretaries for not giving proper replies,” Mandrekar demanded.
However, when The Goan questioned whether he had given anything in writing to the panchayat authorities, Mandrekar replied in the negative and said that he had only spoken with them orally.
“I did not give anything in writing and I had communicated orally with the sarpanch and the two secretaries,” Mandrekar informed.
But, he said that the samiti will give a memorandum to the CM and the panchayat minister on their demand in the coming week.
To another question on him targeting only sarpanch Dias when he took charge of the panchayat only a couple of months back even though the superannuation was attained by the clerk in 2020 and a subsequent extension was granted in 2021, Mandrekar then changed his stance and demanded that all those who were occupying the sarpanch’s post from November 2020 till 2022 be held accountable.
Meanwhile, Mandrekar also targeted the Santa Cruz panchayat for failing to pay the staff involved in garbage collection for the past three months.
“The panchayat has also not paid dues of the transporter who is transporting dry waste to the Saligao plant. Six months dues are pending amounting to over Rs 6 lakh,” Mandrekar said and opined that on one hand, the panchayat does not have funds to pay for garbage collection but on the other hand, has unnecessarily paid a huge amount as salary for the clerk.
Samiti vice president Uday and executive members Shamba Naik and Vilas Korgaonkar were also present.
Outgoing sarpanch Edwin brushes aside allegations
THE GOAN NETWORK
OLD GOA
Outgoing Santa Cruz sarpanch Edwin Dias brushed aside the allegations made against him by Santosh Mandrekar, spokesperson of Goa Kul Mundkar Samiti, that he was responsible for granting extension to the clerk.
“I took over as Santa Cruz sarpanch on April 13 this year whereas the extension in the service was granted to the clerk in 2021. So how am I supposed to be held responsible?” Dias quipped.
“During my short tenure as sarpanch, Mandrekar had telephonically inquired with me about the staff for which I told him to meet the secretary. However, no written correspondence was received by the panchayat in the matter,” Dias stated.
On the allegations that the staff, as well as the transporter involved in garbage collection, have not been paid for several months, Dias said that ever since he took over, he has cleared previous dues of several lakhs.
“I have cleared pending dues amounting to several lakhs during my short tenure of garbage collection,” Dias informed and stated that he will seek legal opinion on filing a defamation case over the allegations levelled.
