Secretaries' association holds protest, seeks action
Members of the All Goa Village Panchayat Secretaries Association protest outside the Pernem government building on Friday.
PERNEM
The All Goa Village Panchayat Secretaries Association staged a protest outside the Pernem government building on Friday, to condemn the assault on the Morjim Panchayat Secretary, Sachin Dhawaskar, by a man and his son from Delhi at the Pernem BDO the previous day.
During their interaction with the Pernem BDO, Meeksha Naik, they demanded strict action against the two accused.
Later, speaking to reporters, a large number of panchayat secretaries from different parts of the State who took part in the protest warned that they would not remain silent when panchayat secretaries are abused and assaulted while on official duty.
A panchayat secretary mentioned that when women panchayat secretaries are present at gram sabhas, some villagers tend to target them and abuse them for no fault of theirs.
The secretaries informed that a number of issues have been raised by the association and appealed to Chief Minister Pramod Sawant, the ministers concerned, government officials and the association to resolve those issues.
Meanwhile, Sanjay Relan and his son, Mitesh, who had been arrested on charges of assaulting the Morjim Panchayat Secretary Sachin Dhawaskar were released on bail on Friday. Both accused have been directed to appear at the police station for five days.
They had been arrested on multiple charges under Sections 115, 118(1), 352, 351(3), 121(1), 132, 324(3)(4) r/w 3(5) of BNS and 3 of PDDP Act.
The incident took place when Dhawaskar (35) had gone to the Pernem BDO office at about 3.30 pm on Thursday in connection with a Right to Information (RTI) appeal filed by the accused, Sanjay Relan, who is presently residing Siolim.
Dhawaskar alleged that Sanjay and his son, Mitesh, abused and threatened him, while also catching hold of him and assaulting him, tearing his shirt and damaging his gold chain.
Dhawaskar further complained that Mitesh assaulted him with a steel water bottle on his neck and right hand wrist, while Sanjay bit his right leg. The panchayat secretary also accused them of threatening to get him suspended from service.
