MARGAO
Margao Municipal Council’s meeting on Wednesday called to plan the ensuing Shigmo festivities ended up in an uproar over the auctioning of two shops in the Gandhi market, with City Fathers cutting across party lines accusing the civic body for fraud and causing loss to the Council.
What’s interesting to note is that Margao Municipal Market Committee headed by MMC Vice-Chairperson Deepali Sawal asserted the market panel was kept in the dark over the auctioning of the shops. Even Chairperson Lyndon Pereira maintained that the auction was conducted by the Chief Officer Agnelo Fernandes, saying he had only signed the filed.
Former chairperson Ganashyam Shirodkar demanded that the civic body should scrap the auction or the chairperson will be dislodged by moving a no-confidence motion.
Member of the Market committee, Mahesh Amonkar set the ball rolling when he and other members of the panel asserted they were all kept in the dark by the Civic body before the auction. They wondered why the proposal to auction the two shops was never placed or discussed at the market committee meeting.
Councillor Ganashyam Shirodkar accused the civic body for causing a fraud, saying the two shops were auctioned by the civic body in a clandestine manner without much publicity. That’s not all. Ganashyam said the shops have been auctioned for Rs 4,000 when the civic body ought to have earned a revenue of Rs 15,000 on each of the shops.
“The MMC Vice-Chairperson Deepali Sawant, who is the Market committee Chairperson, says the filed did not come to her. What has happened is really bad when the process of revenue generation and recoveries has slowed down. Sonsodo is burning leaving the site paralysed and the civic body is not interested. They have now tried to loot the civic body through the backdoor,” he said.
While demanding re-auctioning of the two shops, Ganashyam said members of the market panel should resign, warning that the councillors will be forced to oust the Chairperson if the auction is not scrapped immediately.
Members of the Market committee including Deepali Sawal, Shagun Naik, Mahesh Amonkar, Raju Shirodkar and Johnny Crasto later told the media after the meeting that the file pertaining to the auctioning of the two shops had never come to the committee. They warned of further action in the even the auction is not scrapped. “We will meet the Chief Officer and the Chairperson before chalking out the next course of action,” he said.
Deepali said neither the file pertaining to the auctioning of the shops had come to her nor has she signed on the file. When I had questioned the Chief Officer on the matter, the latter was clear in saying the file need not go to the market committee for approval, she added.
