OLD GOA
The Corlim gram sabha was ended by acting sarpanch Supriya Kerkar after some gram sabha members allegedly uttered bad words against her.
The incident happened when the issue of the sealing of Dhulapi ‘temple’ was taken up. The locals sought to know why the compound gate was also sealed when the High Court order pertains to only the ‘temple’.
When sarpanch Kerkar tried to explain that the compound forms part of the ‘temple’ structure, the locals objected and it is at this point that the alleged bad words were uttered. Taking strong exception to the vulgar language, Kerkar then declared that she was ending the gram sabha.
Later, speaking to reporters Kerkar said, “If they have no respect for me, then I saw no point in continuing with the gram sabha,” Kerkar informed while stating that the compound gate of the structure was sealed as per the directives from the Mamlatdar.
However, the locals were peeved over the abrupt end of the gram sabha as they said that they just wanted answers from the panchayat as to why the compound gate of the ‘temple’ was sealed. “The High Court order pertains only to the ‘temple’ but the panchayat sealed both the ‘temple’ as well as the compound gate, and we sought to know whether the panchayat was empowered to do so,” a local stated while adding that now the locals are deprived of their religious rituals.
Further, the locals informed that they also had submitted a proposal to discuss illegal scrapyards operating in the village, which could also not be taken up.
