the goan I network
PANAJI
The draft amendments which were published last week, substitute the words “10 days” for the words “15 days” in rule 10 of the Goa Panchayat and Zilla Panchayat (Election Procedure) Rules, 1996, in
sub-rule (2).
In effect, the then Director of Panchayats, Gurudas Pilarnekar said that in the elections there will only be ten days for the entire electoral procedure to complete between the first date of filing of nominations to the day of voting.
If one includes the days for filing of nominations, the days for scrutiny and withdrawal, it will mean that candidates will get only around a couple of days to campaign before the voting day.
Explaining the changes, Pilarnekar said that the amendments were brought about because it will help reduce the expenses of the elections as monies spent for election machinery, honoraria, as well as other expenses would be reduced as well as the days of the code of conduct monitoring would reduce.
“Besides wards are small and the candidates would not ideally take more than one day to complete campaigning even if it is door to door campaigning,” a source in the panchayat department said. Candidates can also campaign before they file their nominations if they wish to seek more days
to campaign.
