MAPUSA
Nearly a month after the controversy of ‘hafta’ charge against some councillors of Mapusa, now Chief Officer Amitesh Shirvoikar has landed into a fresh controversy by accompanying the councillors to a pilgrimage in the neighbouring State.Four councillors “ Vice Chairperson Chandrashekar Benkar, Viraj Phadke, Ashirwad Korjuvenkar and Sainath Raul “ along with the chief officer of Mapusa Municipal Council left for Shirdi in Maharashtra on Sunday by road and returned to Goa on Tuesday.
The incident grabbed eyeballs because Shirvoikar as a quasi-judicial officer is presiding over a complaint made by councillors Viraj Phadke and Ashirwad Korjuvenkar against the Sopo contractor for overcharging the vendors in the municipal market.
The Sopo contractor in his reply to the showcause notice issued to him had alleged that the two councillors had demanded Rs 2 lakh hafta from him.
The chief officer who is hearing the matter has scheduled the next hearing in the case on November 23.
Caught on the backfoot, Chief Officer Amitesh Shirvoikar acknowledged that he had travelled to Shirdi, but with his family members.
“I had gone to Shirdi with my family. I met a few councillors there,” Shirvoikar told The Goan.
However, multiple sources confirmed that the chief officer had indeed travelled to Shirdi along with the four councillors.
While all five went to Shirdi in one car, the four councillors travelled back to Goa in one car while the chief officer returned separately, after the news of their trip went viral on social media since Tuesday morning.
The action of the chief officer sparked a spontaneous debate among the citizenry on professionalism and ethics in the bureaucracy.
Several people slammed the chief officer for accompanying the allegedly tainted councillors to Shirdi.
“It is absolutely wrong on the part of the chief officer to go out with the councillors when the matter against them is sub-judice and placed before him. There can be aspersions cast on him that he is in connivance with the councillors… That he is trying to shield the controversial councillors,” said Jawaharlal Shetye, a resident of Mapusa and a RTI activist.
