MARGAO
Chief Minister Pramod Sawant had to tread a cautious path when the SGPDA market was being shut down by the men-in-uniform on Sunday morning and the Margao Gandhi vegetable market was bustling with activity.
While the mega PDA market is owned by the SGPDA headed by MLA Wilfred D’Sa, the Gandhi market is controlled by Deputy Chief Minister Manohar Ajgaonkar.
The Chief Minister had to grapple with the question of the police action in one market and the vegetable market activity going unchecked when SGPDA Chairman Wilfred D’Sa called up to know the status of the government decision on the market functioning.
Sources informed that no sooner the Fatorda police led by PI Kapil Nayak descended on the SGPDA mega retail market in a big way, vendors called up the PDA Chairman to find out how the police could order the closure of the market when the fish, vegetable and meat products are all considered essentials.
That’s not all. The PDA Chairman was clearly told by a group of vendors that the Gandhi market, controlled by the Ajgaonkar, was bustling with activity with neither the Margao police nor the Margao municipal inspectors enforcing any shutdown.
To get clarity on the lockdown, the SGPDA Chairman is believed to have called up the Chief Minister, drawing his attention to the police action in the SGPDA market and the inaction by the men-in-uniform in the Gandhi market.
“I had no option but to draw the attention of the Chief Minister to the police action in the PDA market and the business activity in the Gandhi market. The CM assured me that the order will be implemented in a uniform manner in all the markets,” D’Sa said.
By the time, the communication went to the Gandhi market, it was already around 1 pm. Vendors of the Gandhi market were not clear whether the vegetable market would reopen on Monday or not, as they have no idea whether it will remain closed till May 24 or will be allowed to open in the morning session.
