MARGAO
Nearly five months down the line the Zilla Panchayat members may be in for a shocker. Not only the much publicized promise has failed to become a reality, but the government has done a re-think on handing over the RDA to the powerless district panchayat bodies.
In fact, when The Goan called up the Panchayat Minister to know the status of his promise, he said, “Instead of handing the entire RDA, the government is now toying with the idea of earmarking certain specific works from different departments to the Zilla Panchayats for execution.” When questioned further whether the government decision to do a re-think on the handing over RDA comes against the backdrop of reservations expressed by RDA Minister Alina Saldanha that she was not consulted by the government on the issue, Arlekar replied in the negative, saying he did not come across any such remarks made by the former.
“What we are now trying to do is to give certain works from different departments to the Zilla Panchayats for execution. This will give enough works for the Zilla Panchayats to execute during their tenure,” he said, adding that the Panchayat Ministry is in the process of preparing a report before it is forwarded to the government for approval.
Zilla Panchayat members from both North and South Goa had welcomed the Panchayat Minister’s statement during his interaction with the South Goa Zilla Panchayat on November 20 last. While South Goa Zilla Panchayat Navnath Naik had then remarked that placing RDA under the umbrella of the ZPs will allow the district panchayat bodies to steer the vehicle of development in rural areas, former ZP Chairperson Nelly Rodrigues had welcomed the announcement saying it was the first step toward decentralization of power to the grassroots bodies.
