MARGAO
What has Panchayat Minister Mauvin Godinho to say on the Panchayat Director’s failure to fill up the vacant of post of Colva Sarpanch within the stipulated 60 day period mandated by the Goa Panchayat Raj Act?
Consider this. Colva Sarpanch Anthony alias Mam Fernandes had tendered his resignation on March 8 last and the resignation came into effect 10 days later on March 18. Section 53 of the Goa Panchayat Raj Act mandates the Panchayat Director to fill up the vacancy within 60 days since the time when the post had fallen vacant.
The 60 day period lapsed on May 18 and a new Sarpanch could not be installed within the stipulated period. And, there seemed no hurry or haste from the office of the Panchayat director to fill up the vacancy. This is evident by the fact that on May 18, Panchayat Director Siddhi Halarnakar issued an order calling for a meeting of the Panchayat on June 4 to fill up the vacant post of Sarpanch, indicating that the vacant post of Colva Sarpanch will be held in two months and half as against the mandated period of two months.
The delay in filling up the vacant post of Colva Sarpnach is indeed a mystery, even as the five member ruling body does not rule out foul play. Reason: Though the outgoing Sarpanch Anthony Fernandes had quit office on March 8, the Panchayat Director is believed to have held election for the vacant post of Sarpanchas of at least two village Panchayats in Salcete during the last 60 days.
Outgoing Sarpanch Anthony claimed he had quit office on March 8 and that his resignation had come into effect 10 days later on March 18. “Today, it’s exactly two months since my resignation had come into effect in March 18. We fail to understand why there’s so much delay in holding election for the vacant post”, Anthony wondered.
What further intrigued the outgoing Sarpanch is the fact that the Panchayat Director has now fixed the election in the first week of June. “Since the Panchayat authorities had failed to fill up the vacancy on time, we had hoped that the Director would take steps to immediately hold election for the vacant post. It is surprising that the election will now be held for the vacant post a fortnight later”, he rued.
Panchayat Director Halarnkar told The Goan that her office wanted to fill up the vacant post of Sarpanch of Colva and some village together. The surge in Covid cases was also cited behind the delay.
The outgoing Colva Sarpanch, however, has begged to differ and has suspected foul play. “Around the same time when I had quit office, there were two other vacancies of Sarpanchas in Salcete. While the Panchayat Director was quick to fill up the vacant posts, Colva did not figure in the scheme of things for reason best known to the Panchayat authorities”, he added.
