MARGAO
The reply to a Legislative Assembly question in the House revealing that the LDCs/escrivaos working at the office of Administrator of Comunidades, South Goa have not been transferred from their postings for the last two decades, with at least five out of these 14 employees working at one place for as long as 22 years, may come as a big surprise to many.
But, hold on. Even more shocking is the fact that the order issued by incumbent South Goa District Collector Asvin Chandru, IAS effecting the transfers of the escrivaos/LDCs in the month of July, has not changed the ground reality.
With the Collector’s order not implemented yet, components of South Goa Comunidade have claimed that the clerks have knocked the doors of politicians to scuttle the Collector’s transfer orders. “We have learnt that the clerks, most of whom are working in the same office or Comunidade continuously for over two decades, have approached some local politicians for cancellation of the transfer orders. And, the politicians are poised to oblige to enable continuation of their “dirty work” through these escrivaos,” informed Margao Comunidade President and Secretary, South Goa Comunidades Forum, Savio Correia.
A glance at the LAQ reply on the escrivaos/LDCs employed with the Office of the Administrator of Comunidades, South Goa shows that as many as five out of the total 14 employees have been posted at one comunidade for 22 long years. Another three escrivaos/LDCs have been working in one comunidade for 21 years, indicating that these employees were neither transferred over the last two decades or they have managed to get their transfers cancelled.
Incidentally, South Goa District Collector, Asvin Chandru, IAS had on July 17 issued a transfer order to the employees to different comunidade bodies, with a direction to hand over/take over the charge of posting within one week and to file compliance report within three days thereafter.
In his reply to the LAQ, Revenue Minister Atanasio Monserrate had admitted that the Code of Comunidade prescribes a maximum tenure of six years for a LDC/escrivao in a comunidade with the Minister further answering in the positive that it’s true that majority of the LDCs/escrivaos working in the office of Administrator of Comunidades, South Zone have been in their current posting for periods longer than that.
When the Minister was asked to outline the steps that have been taken in the last one year, or are proposed to be taken, to ensure compliance with the provision of the Code of Comunidade regarding maximum tenure of LDC/escrivao, Monserrate had replied saying the office of Collector, South had issued a transfer order, posting of the LDCs/escrivaos.
Margao Comunidade President Savio Correia, however, pointed out that none of the LDCs/escrivaos have handed over the charge till date as per the Collector’s order.
“It only points to the chronic indiscipline in the Administration office that we, at the South Goa Comunidades Forum, have been charging for the last several years,” he said.
He added: “We have learnt that the clerks, most of whom are working in the same office or Comunidade continuously for over two decades, have approached some local politicians for cancellation of the transfer orders, and the politicians are poised to oblige to enable continuation of their “dirty work” through these escrivaos.
