Attempts made to communalise issue of leave at Chaturthi, says Mapusa CO

SUGGESTS ADOPTION OF A RESOLUTION STATING NO LEAVE WILL BE GRANTED DURING FESTIVALS

| SEPTEMBER 11, 2019, 03:49 AM IST

the goan I network

MAPUSA

Mapusa Municipal Council (MMC) Chief Officer Clen Madeira on Tuesday told the Mapusa Municipal Council that there were attempts made to communalise the issue of granting leave during the Ganesh festival.

“Almost 90% of the staff in the civic body belongs to the majority community. Since the chairperson and I belong to the minority community, attempts were made to communalise the issue,” Madeira said.

According to him, both the chairperson and he were not in favour of granting mass leave to the staff for the festival.

The chief officer was forced to make the disclosure after several councillors complained that door-to-door garbage had suffered badly during the Ganesh festival.

Several councillors censured the administration for granting mass leave to garbage collectors which led to the nuisance.

The Goan had recently highlighted how the chief officer was compelled to grant leave to the staff and the resulting mass leave had affected door-to-door garbage collection in the city.

Initiating the discussion, senior councillor and former chairperson Sandeep Falari said the issue of waste collection came up during festivals year after year and the civic body needed to find lasting solution to the imbroglio.

“Garbage generated during the Ganesh festival is four to five times more. My ward and several other councillors have had suffered the most on account of failure of collection of garbage. Somewhere, we will have to take the bull by its horns to resolve the issue once and for all,” Falari said.

He further said that a solution needs to be taken so that door-to-door waste collection was not hampered due to staff going on leave.

He was seconded by councillor, Rajsingh Rane, who said that some way should be found so that leave to staff was not sanctioned at one go.

“It’s a serious issue. We have suffered tremendously due to failure of waste collection during the festival. The same problem will happen during Diwali also. We will have to find a balance while granting leave,” Rane said.

The chief officer suggested that the problem can be resolved if the council takes a resolution stating that leave should not be granted during festivals.

However, MMC Chairperson Ryan Braganza sought more time to look into the issue in detail and to come up with an appropriate decision.

Residents say govt must introduce common cadre for civic staff

MAPUSA: Residents of Mapusa slammed the attitude of the civic staff for going on endless leave during festivals and suggested common cadre as the best solution to resolve

the problem. Locals said year after year, government staff go on leave during the festivals bringing the administration to a standstill. “If the government brings in the common cadre regulation in the municipality, then a host of problems created by the civic staff will come to an end,” said Mahesh Rane, a resident of Mapusa. Rane said civic works comes under emergency service and questioned how the chief officer could grant leave to so many staff in one go. According to RTI activist and resident of Mapusa, Jawaharlal Shetye, the civic staff has no fear and took their superiors for granted. “The only solution to this is introduction of common cadre or subject the staff to transfer every three years,” Shetye said.