The Times of India  03.12.2010

MARGAO: With hardly a year to go for the assembly elections, chief minister Digambar Kamat has chosen to play the development card in his home constituency. During his visit to the Margao Municipal Council (MMC) on Thursday – his first ever visit since the new council was formed following the civic polls held last month – Kamat showered his largesse.

The CM gave his go ahead to the MMC to issue house numbers to illegal houses within its jurisdiction, which was relegated to the backburner after protests in 2009.

Addressing reporters after his meeting with MMC councillors, Kamat said that the MMC will issue house numbers after securing an affidavit from the house owners concerned that the MMC reserves the right to take action against the structure, as and when warranted.

Asked whether such an exercise would not amount to regularization of illegal houses, Kamat said, "Under the law, the Supreme Court has given its ruling that granting house numbers to houses for the purpose of house tax (collection) doesn't confer any legal status on them.

The MMC had embarked upon an exercise of surveying unassessed houses to bring them under the tax net. The MMC, however, subsequently found itself in a spot over the issue after the DMA refused to grant its sanction for the proposal and the Opposition councillors crying foul terming the exercise as "illegal" and "aimed at regularizing the illegal houses with an eye on the vote bank.

The CM also instructed the civic bosses to introduce a slew of administrative reforms in the Margao Muncipal Council (MMC) which will help speedy processing of applications received from the general public.

Kamat said applications received for construction of single dwelling units, compound walls, house repairs, renewal of licenses, NOCs for water and electricity connection, will be cleared within seven days.

Kamat announced development grants of .` 2 crore to enable the MMC to execute works amounting to .`Rs 10 lakh in each of the 20 wards of the city.

Besides, Kamat said he has asked urban development secretary, A K Acharya, to invite senior IAS officer S R Rao, former municipal commissioner of Surat, to conduct orientation programmes for the councillors, one session each in north and south Goa.

Rao is credited with changing the face of Surat and Vizag, Kamat said, adding that he would be asked to share his experiences with the councillors.