MARGAO
As mystery shrouds the shortfall of revenue earned by the Margao Municipal Council (MMC) from the Purumentachem fest held in May/June last year, the Shadow Council for Margao (SCM) on Saturday called for an inquiry into the mysterious disappearance or shortfall of around Rs 10-12 lakhs revenue collected from the fair.
MMC officials had in June last gone to the town tom tomming that the municipal coffers were enriched by close to Rs 30 lakhs by way of revenue earned from the stalls at the Purumentachem fest.
Briefing the media along with Adv Snehal Onskar, Jose Maria Miranda, Maria Do Carmo and Damodar Onskar here on Saturday, Coutinho pointed out that information obtained through RTI showed that the revenue collected by the MMC during the feast held in May/June 2022 was only Rs 20,77,000 and nothing close to Rs 30 lakhs.
The breakup of the Rs 20,77,000 revenue includes Rs 14,65,000 from stall rent, 5,10,000/- from stalls at SGPDA ground and one lakh from the amusement/giant wheel.
“Since 80-90 per cent of this collection was in the form of cash, it becomes important for the council to verify and come clear on this issue,” Coutinho demanded, adding, “A thorough inquiry is a must in this matter, and the shortfall has to be recovered from those responsible, and deposited into the Municipal treasury.”
He said the MMC has been desperately knocking the doors of the Loyal taxpayers who are registered/assessed for house tax and trade licenses for recovery of dues, but hardly bother to bring in the net, premises that are not assessed for house tax/trade licenses.
He further said that nearly Rs 1 crore is recoverable from sopo contractors. “Huge amount of money is recoverable through bounced cheques and expired bank guarantee furnished by the Sopo
Contractors. However, on account of the nexus between the council and the sopo contractors, absolutely no efforts are made to recover this money, Coutinho charged.
All that is seen is politics of appeasement; these defaulters are the vote bank influencers of political leaders, and hence get protection at the cost of the council treasury, he said.
He added: “It will not be appropriate for us to say that it is one particular leader that is responsible for the immunity against action against the defaulting sopo contractors, it is not just one contractor either. The fact that none of the leaders favor action for recovery of the outstanding dues from the sopo contractors clearly establishes that all the leaders have their interests in their respective contractors,” Coutinho stated.
