This is not the first time I have heard of non-payment of salaries to municipal employees. A neighbour who worked as a cleaner on contract basis for a Government department, a year or two ago, did not receive his wages for over 3 months. What made it worse was this period encompassed the Ganesh Chathurti holidays, which is a very important religious event for him.I lent him some money so that he could celebrate the Ganesh festival. Often the workers who are not paid are at the lowest end of the salary scale. While the higher ranking officials get their pay on time, the low-paid employees who live hand to mouth are treated in such a disgraceful manner. Sad. From: samir umarye <samir.uma...@gmail.com> To: bicholim-...@googlegroups.com; Goa Net <goa...@goanet.org>; goanet@lists.goanet.org Sent: Friday, August 7, 2015 5:09 PM Subject: [Goanet] BMC in financial crisis, 105 workers not paid for July -- Samir Umarye
BICHOLIM: Around 105 workers of Bicholim Municipal Council ( BMC) have not received their salary for July as the municipality is going through a financial crunch. The workers’ salary generally amounts to Rs 20 lakh every month. It is allegedly the first time such an incident has occurred in the Council’s history. Opposition councillors and locals have attributed it to mismanagement of funds and unknowledgeable councillors. “ The financial crisis has occurred due to lack of funds caused, to some extent, by the mining imbroglio and the small amount of Octroi that we received from the government,” said BMC chairperson Karuna Govekar, adding, “ Every year the government used to receive tax from petrol pumps, sale of lubricants and other such activities, and in turn it used to give us two per cent Octroi. However, this year less than Rs 3 lakh was received from the government in the form of Octroi. This is not a sudden situation; the Octroi has been dwindling since the last many years.” BMC Deputy Chairman Riyaz Beig added, “ We will make some arrangements and the salaries will be paid by August 10.” Meanwhile, opposition councillor Narayan Betkikar slammed the BMC for faulty planning and misappropriation of funds. He said, “ It is all because of misappropriation of funds. We have demanded a special meeting to discuss the financial position of BMC.” While the Council is trying to shift the blame to the government, locals have held BMC responsible for the crisis.