VASCO
Admitting there had been a delay in salaries of workers and staff for two months, Mormugao Municipal Council (MMC) Chairperson Damodar Kaskar on Thursday said the MMC was in the process of finding a permanent solution to the salary issue, including a demand to collect octroi.
"We have assured to clear salaries of the last two months by Monday, and in a bid to find a permanent solution to the issue, we have also sought an appointment with Chief Minister Pramod Sawant and discuss the problem,” said Kaskar.
“Municipalities would get octroi but with GST implementation, the octroi has been abolished, and we will request that the octroi collected be given to us through a special grant to help us get relief for payment of salaries. The CM has already instructed the DMA to release the MMC grants," said Kaskar.
Meanwhile, former MMC chairperson Deepak Naik said it was for the first time that salaries were not paid for two consecutive months.
"The MMC used to pay salaries of Rs 90 lakh earlier but with the 7th Pay, the salaries have jumped to Rs 1.30 crore, but the salary grants that we receive has not been increased and we still get salary grants as per 6th Pay.”
“Secondly, we used to get around Rs 5.5 crore in octroi that would give us relief for around 5 to 6 months but that has been stopped with GST. Late Manohar Parrikar as CM had, however, proposed that this octroi would be given to all municipalities as a special grant and we also took a resolution in this regard and forwarded it to the government asking for this special grant.”
“We had also placed a proposal for 60-40 support for salaries where the government pays 40 per cent and we manage 60 per cent," said Naik.
Naik said the government must also amend the Municipalities Act immediately if MMC has to find a permanent solution.
"Among all 13 municipalities, Vasco is the Number 1 municipality with maximum assets. But unfortunately, the assets are for namesake and don’t generate revenue because some are sublet and sub-leased and we can't do anything. Only if the amendment is done on priority, we can transfer it back to us and begin to generate revenue. We don't even get rent sometimes, and many a time we have to go to Court and these things will change only if the Act is amended," said Naik.
