------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Documented by Goa Desc Resource Centre Ph:2252660 Website: www.goadesc.org Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Press Clippings on the web: http://www.goadesc.org/mem/ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ --------------------------------------------------------------- Most VPs do not organise gram sabha meetings --------------------------------------------------------------- The delaying and skipping tactics resorted to by the sarpanchas in holding the mandatory gram sabhas are a common feature in the panchayat bodies of South Goa.
And such behaviour of the sarpanchas not only violates the Goa Panchayat Raj Act, but also denies democratic rights to the villagers who wait to place their genuine difficulties in the meetings.
More teeth need to be provided to the Directorate of Panchayat to initiate action against the violators, as these sarpanchas continue their skipping tactics and masking them with lame excuses.
The village panchayat of Benaulim is a perfect example. The elected representatives have denied the mandatory gram sabhas for almost 18 months to these villagers and nobody bothers to give justice to them.
On February 29, the Benaulim panchayat continued the adjourned gram sabha of October 2002 amidst chaos. The meeting ended without any agreements.
The government's decision to empower these grass root level bodies for the upliftment of the rural areas, however has not yielded the desired results. Instead they were often seen misusing these powers, resulting in confusion and rifts.
Says the director of panchayats, Mr P M Borkar "If gram sabhas are not held in time, a complain has to be given to the concerned Block Development Office (BDO)."
Although there are gram sabhas which have to be compulsorily organised in January, April, July and October of every year, very few gram sabhas have been held.
The Salcete taluka which comprises 30 panchayats, has not a single sarpanch who has conducted timely gram sabha meets throughout the year.
Most of the Salcete taluka panchayats show little interest in holding the gram sabhas. The concerned Zilla Panchayat (ZP) members too have never bothered to attend such gram sabha meetings in order to take stock of the situation.
"Till there is no strict action from the concerned authorities, the elected representatives will make merry with the prevailing situation," says a former director of panchayats. "The government has to penalize them by way of stopping grants," he added.
The general public feels that the delay in holding such gram sabhas, could be for various reasons. While some believe that the delay is due to the shortage of panchayat secretaries and the ignorance of elected representatives, others claim that the elected members fear that their misdeeds will be exposed by villagers. Still others say that the skipping of such gram sabhas could be because of poor response from villagers. -------------------------------------------- The Navhind Times 3/3/04 page 3 --------------------------------------------
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