MARGAO
When will the shareholders of Comunidades in South Goa receive the dividends/zonns pending for the last five years?
The South Goa Comunidades Forum has knocked on the doors of Revenue Minister Atanasio Monserrate seeking his intervention in the matter.
Incidentally, the forum had in the last called on then Revenue Minister Jennifer Monserrate to instruct the revenue authorities in South Goa and the Administrator of Comunidades to disburse the dividends. Though Jennifer had even announced on the floor of the House that the dividends will be disbursed, the ground reality remains unchanged.
While a delegation of the South Goa Comunidades Forum called on Atanasio Monserrate on Monday with a plea to disburse the dividends, the Revenue Minister told The Goan on Tuesday he has instructed South Goa Administrator of Comunidades, Raju Desai, to disburse the dividends immediately.
In the memorandum, the South Goa Comunidades Forum had drawn the attention of the Revenue Minister to the issue of non-payment of share dividends/zonn for last five years.
The delegation comprised Forum President Franky Monteiro, Savio Correia, John Philip and Celestin Noronha. They told the Revenue Minister that his predecessor Jennifer Monserrate had given an assurance on the floor of the Goa Legislative Assembly on March 26, 2021 (in response to a zero-hour mention by MLA Reginaldo Lourenco) that dividends/zonn would be released after making provision of 10 per cent of their net profits in their budgets towards derrama.
“This announcement had brought great joy and relief to the beleaguered Comunidade members of South Goa. However, we regret to inform no action has been taken on the matter thereafter. The officials at the South Goa Collectorate and Administrator of Comunidades South have failed to implement the directives of the then minister,” they said.
The forum added: “A large majority of the affected South Goa Comunidade members are senior citizens and widows, besides religious charitable organizations. Comunidade dividends/zonn constitute a substantial part of their annual income. They have been badly hit by the current economic slowdown attributable to the pandemic and are in desperate need of financial resources for their survival.”
