Panchayat gets full-time secretary who is on long leave; interim secretary has two other panchayats to look after
MAPUSA
The appointment of a full-time secretary to the Aldona panchayat came as a huge relief but it turned out to be short-lived as the panchayat members discovered that the secretary was on long leave and would join duty only after November 13.
And to add insult to injury, the government gave charge of the Aldona panchayat to a secretary who is already holding charge of two other panchayats for the interim period until the new secretary joins work.
The Director of Panchayats, Narayan Gad in an order dated October 28 posted Chandan Chodankar as the new secretary of Aldona Panchayat.
But on October 29, the Bardez Block Development Officer wrote to Aldona Sarpanch Subhash Raut stating that Chodankar was on leave from October 19 to November 13 and the interim charge is given to the secretary of Bastora who also holds additional charge of Moira panchayat.
Expressing disappointment at the turn of events, Aldona Sarpanch Subhash Raut said this will only delay works and create problems for the public.
“We had demanded a full-time secretary as we were not able to issue residential, income and other certificates to the public. Most of the panchayat works are pending due to absence of the panchayat secretary,” Raut said.
He said the common man will be affected most of the correspondence cannot be taken up due to non-availability of the secretary.
According to former sarpanch and panchayat member, Dipak Naik this was another way to harass the local panchayat.
“The decision shows that there is political interference to halt the functioning of the panchayat. Why do injustice to the people of Aldona?” Naik said.
For weeks, the ruling Aldona panchayat had been raising the issue of problems faced by the locals due to the non-availability of a full-time secretary.
The ruling members had also met the Director of Panchayat in the connection and appraised him about the problems faced by the public.
The ruling group of the Aldona Panchayat owes allegiance to former Tivim MLA Kiran Kandolkar.
