MARGAO
Chief Minister Pramod Sawant is set to visit the land of the freedom fighters on Sunday as part of his “Government at Your Doorstep” initiative, but Cuncolkars have a pointed question to ask “ has the government any plan to renovate and refurbish the freedom fighters memorial and the Chieftains Memorial?
Even as the Chief Minister and the bureaucrats try to resolve the issues of the citizens under one roof, Cuncolkars expect Sawant to earmark and sanction funds for the upkeep and maintenance of the two memorials, out of the central grants received by the Goa government.
The Cuncolim Municipal Council on Saturday carried out a cleanliness drive at the Freedom Fighters’ Memorial coinciding with Mahatma Gandhi Jayanti. MMC workers trimmed the wild grass and picked up dry waste littered around the park, but the memorial and the park has been craving for attention for long now for want of upkeep and maintenance. The tile fittings of the memorial have given way long ago and the very names of the freedom fighters have disappeared from the memorial for want of maintenance.
Citizens, however, said this token cleanliness drive at the FF memorial may not help in the maintenance of the memorial, adding that the government should take up renovation of the two memorials through the Goa State Infrastructure Development Corporation (GSIDC) to restore the two memorials to its glory.
“When the state government has received Rs 300 central grants on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of Goa’s Liberation, it is in the fitness of things that the government spends a small amount to maintain these two memorials as a befitting tribute the freedom fighters from Cuncolim who have sacrificed their lives for the State’s Liberation”, remarked another citizen.
Regularise their jobs in
municipality, says Elvis
MARGAO: Even as ‘Sarkar tumchea dari’ is set to be launched in Cuncolim on Sunday, Congress leader Elvis Gomes said that the government that was claiming to bring ‘Sarkar tumcha dari’ at the fag end of its tenure, should consider the demands of staff of Municipal Councils engaged in door to door waste collection as they have been pioneers of doorsteps delivery of waste collection services every single day for years without end.
Gomes said that it was already a permanent feature in Municipal councils through staff on daily wage basis doing house to house visits for waste collection but were languishing without any hope of getting regularised and were also deprived of decent wages.
“In Cuncolim Municipal Council alone, there are about 60 employees many of whom have been in service for as long as 18 years. What is the hope for them in this recruitment spree of the government, he questioned.
Similarly, he said there are several cases of employees in Sports, PWD, WRD who are advancing in age and losing hope due to neglect, demanding justice to such non-regularised employees.
