the goan I network
margao
Colva is one of the panchayat bodies in Salcete which has witnessed a stable body since the panchayat elections were held around June 2017. But that’s not the case with the administration of the panchayat which has witnessed bouts of instability with as many as eight secretaries presiding over the affairs of the panchayat since June 2017.
As a result the panchayat administration has suffered for no fault of the elected body. In fact, Colva Sarpanch Anthony Mam Fernandes went a step forward to describe the frequent changes in the panchayat secretaries akin to “musical chairs” and which has hit the administration adversely since he took over the reigns of the body in June 2017.
The sarpanch may not be wrong when he described the frequent transfer of the panchayat secretaries as musical chairs with the record clearly showing that at least two of them had been posted in the panchayat twice in the last two years.
Of the eight panchayat secretaries, who presided over the affairs of the local body since June 2017, panchayat secretary Sandhya Shirodkar was posted thrice despite reservations raised by the elected body headed by the sarpanch.
In fact, when Sandhya Shirodkar was brought back to the Colva panchayat in December last, her posting was marked by protests by local NGO, Colva Civic and Consume Forum, which had questioned the government’s rationale behind transferring secretary Paresh Rane.
Even the sarpanch had expressed his strong reservations over Paresh Rane’s sudden transfer and had suspected politics behind the transfer.
Interestingly, Sandhya Shirodkar has been shunted out of office by an order issued on March 7, directing her to report to the Salcete BDO office. That’s not all. While Sandhya has been told to report to the Salcete BDO office, panchayat secretary Paresh Rane has retuned back and is expected to assume office on Friday.
Colva Sarpanch Anthony Fernandes said: “We only hope that Paresh Rane remains in office for a long time. Frequent transfer of panchayat secretaries has adversely affected our administration. The government should stop the musical chair game of the panchayat secretaries.”
