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---------------------------------------------------------------------- Panchayat Act amendment to give women more teeth ---------------------------------------------------------------------- The State government is contemplating to bring a legislation in the forthcoming assembly session seeking to remove anomalies in the Goa Panchayat Raj Act ensuring that women are elected as sarpanch and deputy sarpanch without any difficulty in panchayats where the posts are reserved for women.This has been decided by the Department of Panchayats as quite a few instances have come to its notice where women have not been able to occupy the posts reserved for them.
In all the cases, male members had refused to 'second' the nomination of women for both the posts.Under the current provisions in the Goa Panchayat Raj Act, mere reservation of seats for women for the posts of sarpanch and deputy sarpanchas gives no absolute guarantee that women will be elevated to the posts in the panchayats.
This has been witnessed in Sal, Savordem and Chicolna panchayats. In Sal and Savordem panchayats the post of deputy sarpanch is reserved for women during the current term. In Chicolna the post of sarpanch is reserved for women.
While the posts reserved lay vacant, experienced male members are virtually reaping the harvest and will continue to until such a time posts are filled by women members.Sal is a five member panchayat whilst Savordem has seven members wherein two wards each are reserved for women.
Same is the case with Chicolna panchayat. In all these three panchayats, male members in majority have seen that female panchas are deprived of their reservations.The filling of the posts has apparently has become difficult task as the battle is three versus two, wherein male members refrain from seconding the nomination of a female member who files her nomination to be a sarpanch or a deputy sarpanch.
"In panchayats where there are just two female members, if men in majority do not wish to see a female leading them, they abstain from seconding the nomination of the female panch desiring to be a sarpanch or the deputy sarpanch. Of the two female panchas one proposes the nomination. However the problem arises when no male panchayat member is willing to second the nomination of the female member," says a panchayat official.
This is a peculiar problem with Sal and Chicolna panchayat, where
the post of deputy sarpanch and sarpanch lay vacant. Hence in Chicolna,
the deputy sarpanch is serving as acting sarpanch and has assumed all
powers of the sarpanch. In Chicolna three meetings of the panchas was
fixed to fill in the post of the sarpanch. However, on all the three occasions,
nomination of women sarpanch could not be effected, as no male panch
wanted to second the nomination. Similar is the case of Sal panchayat.
In case of Sanvordem panchayat, the post of deputy sarpanch was,
however, filled later.
To end such situations in the future, the Directorate of Panchayats has proposed to do away with the nomination procedure in panchayats where the posts of sarpanch and deputy are reserved for women. It has proposed amendment to Goa Panchayat Raj Act, 1994 to have women sarpanch and deputy sarpanch elected by lots. ------------------------------------ HERALD 21/6/04 page 1 ------------------------------------
======================================= GOA DESC RESOURCE CENTRE Documentation + Education + Solidarity 11 Liberty Apts., Feira Alta, Mapusa, Goa 403 507 Tel: 2252660 mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] website: www.goadesc.org ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Working On Issues Of Development & Democracy =======================================
