MARGAO
The Shadow Council for Margao has set a 15-day deadline on the Margao Municipal Council to terminate the MoU with Bapu Environmental Social Service organization alleging irregularities. Addressing the media, Convenor Savio Coutinho said the SCM has already written to the Chief Officer of Margao Municipal Council specifying three demands -- one the termination of the MoU with Bapu Environmental Social Service Organization, recovery of excess payments made to the agency and Vigilance inquiry into the matter.
He pointed out that a SCM team also met the Director of Municipal Administration Maneka and explained the whole issue in detail. “We expect immediate action in the matter involving taxpayers money to the tune of around Rs 6 lakh per month. The SCM will not hesitate in intensifying its agitation against the civic body,” he asserted, while not ruling out the option of taking legal recourse.
Mourning the death of accountability and transparency in the Margao Municipal Council, the Shadow Council for Margao charged the civic body of engaging the door-to-door waste collection agency without conducting the codal formalities.
Coutinho alleged that as per the information provided to the SCM, there exist two lists of workers -- one certified by MMC supervisors and another (with Provident fund details) provided by the
agency. “On comparison of both the lists, it is observed that there is a glaring difference in both the lists. In short, one can conclude that the council is paying workers, who have actually not worked for the council,” he alleged.
He said that ‘niz Goemkar’ workers, who have been working for over a decade, are being exploited and are getting paid only 387 per day, but on the other hand the council prefers to release Rs 500 per day for non-Goan workers.
“We read through the media that TCP Minister and Fatorda MLA Vijai Sardesai had taken up cudgels against the employment of non-Goans by companies in the industrial estate. On this same note we wish to draw the attention of the minister on the 100% import of Biharis. SCM is ready to provide 45 niz Goenkars for the job, for a payment of 15,000 per month,” he added.
