Just eight people currently BPL in Saligao village SaligaoNet
SALIGAO, July 23, 2006: Believe it or not, there are just eight persons on the 'Below Poverty Line' list in Saligao village currently. So, has poverty vanished from the village? Is the situation being glossed up simply by making it tough for entering this list? Or, are the authorities not doing a thorough job of deciding who actually deserves assistance needed by people on such a list? This fact emerged at a Saligao gram sabha (village council meeting) held on Sunday morning, July 23, 2006. There was some disbelief expressed that only so few were on this list in the village. While the government tends to make people feel helpless about the poverty, by encouraging the hand-out culture, the fear among some is also that those who actually deserve to be on the list might not be actually included. There is a complex set of 13 factors which decides whether someone can be included in the BPL (below-poverty line) listing or not. Different categories of BPL persons are listed, but the maximum a family can earn to be included in this list is a total of Rs 2500 per month. Panchayat secretary Naik read out the names of the eight persons included on this list. Someone present claimed that one of the eight had since died. Later, panchayat members and villagers were seen discussing the arrival of forms to apply for BPL status. To ensure transparency in the system, names of BPL-beneficiaries are to be made available to the villagers and discussed publicly, as done at today's meeting. Other issues raised at the gram sabha included: * Proposal to widen the road leading to Lourdes Convent, tok avoid traffic congestion (mainly witnessed after school hours). Panchayat secretary Naik said this was being referred to the PWD, after passing a resolution at the gram sabha. * Issue of having a playground near Lourdes Convent. Secretary Naik argued that this was a "land problem". When the LCHS sisters suggested the playground could be infront of the school, the panchayat secretary asked whether it was private land or whom it belonged to. He said that there was government grant making funds available for playgrounds and mini-stadia, where a minimum area of 400 square metres was available. A communidade member raised the possibility of giving one of three plots, on the road leading to Mapusa. But others asked for a firm commitment from the comunidade, and said the plot should be closer to the inhabitation area of the village. One comunidade member said the cost of filling, levelling the Sonarbhat land would be too costly. Panchayat member Roland also felt the land should be nearby to the school. It was pointed out that objections had come to having the playground infront of Lourdes Convent, but one viewpoint was that objections would come "from anywhere". * Lourdes Convent's third proposal was to ask the panchayat to offer help to economically backward students to bear the burden of buying books, uniforms and umbrellas. Panchayat secretary Naik said that there was a "financial problem" over this, and it could be looked into next year. When asked what the "financial problem" was he, said allocation of funds needed to be done in advance. In response to a general question on the panchayat budget, Naik said the main expenditure was on roads and the like. He noted that a detailed listing of expenditure had been given at the last gram sabha meeting. * Another proposal came from the Government Primary School (the 'shala', formerly called the 'aula' in Portuguese times) to help paint the school. The primary school also said that leaves keep falling in its well, and hence it needed financial assistance to install a net over the well. Panchayat secretary Naik said the Zilla Panchayat (district-level body) had a special fund to maintain school buildings, and that this proposal would be referred to them. * Lack of street-lighting in D'Mello Vaddo. * Improvement of the Grande Morod main road leading to Arpora. * Bharat, a visually-handicapped villager, was bold enough to raise the issue of the road leading to Salmona. Other villagers raised an issue of what they said was an "illegal" road passing through Grande Morod. The issue of cementing the surroundings of the Laxmi Narayan Temple was also raised. * Panchayat officials clarified that they do not have to foot the bill for streetlighting, which is borne by the state government. But the issue of switching on of streetlights very early in the evening (as early as 5.30 pm) and switching-off the same very late (at 8.30 or 9 am) was a waste of energy. Panchayat member Roland said Saligao's electricity department lacked its resident staff. "We had five staff. Two died and one retired," said Roland. "We need one of our boys from Saligao, posted outside the village, to be posted here so that they could take care of this issue." But villagers called on the panchayat to find a solution, if necessary by approaching the electricity department and proposing automatic switch-on-switch-off sunlight-triggered switches. The meeting, which started just before 10.30 am ended a little after 11.15 am, with a vote of thanks by sarpanch Mary. (ENDS) -- GOAPHOTOSGROUP: http://www.flickr.com/groups/goaphotos/ _______________________________________________ Saligao 403511 website http://saligao.goa-india.org Saligaonet mailing list [email protected] http://lists.goacom.org/mailman/listinfo/saligaonet
