the goan I network
MARGAO
President of the Margao and Aquem comunidades Savio J F Correia on Sunday strongly condemned what he termed as the undue haste to hold the convention of comunidades under Art 652 of Code of Comunidades and demanded its postponement to enable meaningful and participatory debate.
The statutory convention, required to be held every five years, is being convened after ten years. (The last such meeting was held in October 2009). The quinquennial general assembly is crucial as it gives comunidade stakeholders an opportunity to deliberate on matters of general interest and propose measures to foster the progress of the age-old bodies.
Savio said it is learnt that the organising committee constituted in November 2018 was convened to meet for the first time only last Friday i.e. January 4, 2019, just nine days before scheduled date of the convention. “The agenda for the meeting has not been drawn as on date, though the Government’s hidden agenda to eliminate the age-old institution under the guise of providing guardianship is obvious,” Savio added.
He pointed out that Art 652 requires delegates to be chosen by the General Body of the Comunidade, and in its absence by the respective Managing Committee.
“It is impossible to convene the general bodies at such short notice; thereby the very root of the authority of the delegates to represent their comunidades will be questionable and the decisions taken will be bereft of any legal credibility. Secondly, the restriction to nominate only two delegates per comunidade is unheard of and violates the intent and spirit behind Art 652,” he added.
Asserting that the government’s nonchalant attitude towards comunidades was well-known, Savio said the undue haste in convening a half-baked convention only confirms his worst fears. “To add to it, the Administrator of Comunidades South Zone, with the oblique motive of ensuring minimum attendance, has misguided the Managing Committees of South Zone that the convention is on 13th February 2019, instead of 13th January 2019. Copy of circular dated 04 January 2019 is attached for ready reference,” he added.
“Comunidades, an integral part of Goa’s history and heritage, are staring down the barrel and facing irreversible decline. Such arbitrary and rash actions will only hasten the process. The issue of laws that undermine the sovereignty that comunidades continue to enjoy needs to be discussed and examined in detail,” Savio said, while demanding postponement of the convention to enable meaningful and participatory debate in the interest of the comunidades.
