MARGAO
Guess what’s the average monthly expenditure of the Margao Municipal Council on salaries, wages, garbage collection et al “ a whopping Rs 2.5 crore.
None other than the newly-elected Margao civic chief Damu Shirodkar realised this a day after his election as he went about taking a review with the Municipal section heads on Thursday. That’s not all. The civic chief has further realised that while the Municipal body is required to somehow arrange Rs 2.5 crore in its coffer to spend on the bare minimum heads, the receipts do not match with the expenditure side.
Against the backdrop, the new Municipal chairperson has decided in consultation with the Municipal section heads to draft the Municipal inspectors in rotation for revenue recoveries on the fields. Sources do not rule out the possibility of roping in staff and workers from other sections to tone up the revenue recoveries.
A review of the financial position with the officials of the accounts and taxation by the new Municipal chairperson has revealed that of the Rs 2.5 crore monthly expenditure, a whopping amount of Rs 1.5 crore goes towards the salary, pension and honorarium to councillors component. Another Rs 38 lakh goes towards the payment of wages to the daily wage workers, around Rs 30 lakh to the two door-to-door waste collection agencies, and a whopping Rs 28-30 lakh as miscellaneous expenses by the civic body every month.
The monthly miscellaneous expenditure of around Rs 28-30 lakh has caught the attention of the new civic chief as he has sought to know why such a huge amount goes into miscellaneous expenditure every month.
The new civic chief was also taken aback when he was briefed by the section heads that Rs 38 lakh goes into the payment of wages to the daily wage workers in the civic body. Damu is believed to have asked for a list of daily wage workers employed in the civic body and the work they put in every day.
“I have insisted on the figures of payments to put a system in place so that we come to know from the money that comes into the civic body and how it is spent. I am trying to figure out how the civic body is incurring huge miscellaneous expenditures, in the region of Rs 28-30 lakh a month. Once I get the figures, we will come out with a system how to avoid wasteful expenditure,” he added.
Similarly, Damu underscored the need to tone up the revenue recovery position when the civic body is incurring heavy expenditure every month, around Rs 2.5 crore to be precise on basis heads.
“I want the administration to put a system in place wherein the civic body earns adequate revenue, which is then spent on the basic heads. Hence, the revenue recovery position will be strengthened to mop up additional revenue to the civic body,” he added.
All eyes on new civic chairperson over waste collection tender
MARGAO: Will newly-elected Margao Municipal Chairperson Damu Shirodkar be in a position to tender the door-to-door waste collection project, estimated to cost around Rs 5 crore before the month-end?
Or, will the two waste collecting agencies get yet another three months extension from the civic body over its failure to tender the project over the last several months?
Time is running out for the new-elected MMC chairperson on the issue with just 17 days to go for the month to end. It’s unclear whether the Municipal administration will expedite the tender in the next 17 days so that the agencies are appointed by complying with the codal formalities, or, will the civic body give yet another extension for the two agencies on the plea that waste collection work should not get disrupted in the city.
In August last, the civic body had decided to give further three-month extension for the two door-to-door waste collecting agencies since the tender floated by the civic body did not find favour with the government. The two agencies, however, were extended for another three months to facilitate the civic body to prepare fresh tender so that the entire process is completed before October-end.
