MARGAO
The gram sabha of the Benaulim panchayat on Sunday resolved to ask the Fisheries department to allot a portion of the plot housing the defunct Benaulim prawn hatcher for the local fishermen.
At the gram sabha chaired by sarpanch Xavier Pereira, the members also demanded that the panchayat starts online services, including payment of taxes.
Raising the issue of the fisheries land in the village, former sarpanch Royla Fernandes drew the attention of the sarpanch to the resolution adopted by the panchayat requesting the Director of Fisheries to allow the local body to take possession of the prawn hatchery which was being set up for PPP model.
She said the panchayat should forward the proposal of setting up a training centre for Fishermen besides finfish farming with local involvement. She proposed that the panchayat should start the process of getting the local stakeholders and villagers interested in collaborating with this fisheries project and create one of its kind training centre for fishermen across the west coast.
In another proposal to make Benaulim panchayat e-Governance friendly, the former sarpanch called restarting the panchayat website launched in 2013 and providing facilities for online payment of taxes, online applications, expenditure statements etc. She said minutes of panchayat meetings as well as gram Sabha, VDC - Biodiversity Committee and other committees be made available online for reference and knowledge of all.
Saying the St John the Baptist ground development was sanctioned Rs 1.5 crore in 2013 through the Deendayal scheme for infrastructure development, Royla called upon the panchayat to put right the property documentation so that it can go ahead with the development of the ground.
After the meeting, the sarpanch the media that the panchayat would execute and implement the decisions taken at the gram sabha. He pointed out that all decisions taken by the gram sabha would be placed before the panchayat meeting before taking the decisions.
On the fisheries land located in the village, the sarpanch said the local fishermen have been demanding a portion of the land acquired for the defunct prawn hatchery to store their fishing canoes, nets, and store fish. “The panchayat in the past sent the communication to the Fisheries department, but the panchayat has not yet received a reply,” Xavier said while adding that the panchayat would make fresh correspondence with the Fisheries department.
