Mangalore, October 1st: A meeting was held on Monday September 29th and it was decided at a Mangalore Corporation meeting to form an investigating team to check-out the alleged cheating in Mangalore One outlets regarding the non-remittance tax collected by them. The meeting was held.
Mayor Mahabala Marla termed the matter as serious and said he suspects the transactions. He announced a team consisting of six members led by the accounts standing committee president Purushotham Chitrapur. He asked to submit a report within ten days.
Vijayakumar raised the subject and expressed his suspicion of a fraud amounting to Rs 2.5 crore. Navin D’ Souza of the ruling Congress party joined him. Members across party lines demanded that the scam should be traced out.
Mayor said that the committee should investigate into advertising hoardings also. He added that in future, all the taxes will have to be paid through nationalized banks. “If the officials have participated in the Mangalore One fraud, action will be taken against them too,” he said.
There were discussions with regard to the absence of the Commissioner in the meeting. “There is confusion as there is no full time Commissioner. The Joint Commissioner is made to shoulder all the responsibilities. The Mayor should inform when the appointment of Commissioner will take place,” urged opposition leader Premananda Shetty. The Mayor assured that a Commissioner will be appointed before the next Corporation meeting.
Thilakraj and Sudhir Shetty said that the Corporation functions are being hindered due to the absence of a Commissioner. CPI (M) members went to the well of the house and protested terming it as a failure of the ruling party and demanded clear clarifications. To this, the members of the ruling party said that such incidences have occurred in the past too. MLA J R Lobo and MLC Ivan D’ Souza came to the rescue of the ruling party saying that the Joint Commissioner is performing well.
“We have urged for a full time Commissioner during the visit of chief minister. The chief minister has responded positively,” said the Mayor.
Lack of Cleanliness:
The members of the ruling party alleged that, the work pertained to the cleanliness and cutting of grass is not done properly in the Corporation area. The contractors have gone missing. Meanwhile, the health officers who should get the work done also are missing. Nobody knows where the health inspectors are. They do not respond when telephoned.
Members of the ruling party and the opposition expressed outrage on the lack of cleanliness. Roopa Bangera alleged that the cleanliness work in the wards has been suspended for the last two months. “The environment engineer should get the work done in the absence of the health inspectors. They should intervene if the work is stopped for more than ten days,” she said. The Mayor suggested that the amount incurred for cleaning should be deducted from the amount payable to the contractor.
Corporation has consented to provide title deeds to the residents in government land. Commercial buildings should not come under this purview. Navin Chandra alleged that commercial buildings are coming up on some tracts of government land.
During this meet, deputy Mayor Kavitha, standing committee president Ashok Shetty, Ashok Kumar D K, Purushotham Chitrapura, and commissioner-in-charge Gokuldas were present.
