Finally, meeting of DPC convened after 4 years

File photo of the district Collectorate building.

MARGAO

Guess the reason why the conference hall in Room No 337 on the third floor of the Matanhy Saldanha Administrative complex in the South Goa Collectorate building has been booked on December 13 at 11 am?

Well, after close to four years, the South Goa District Planning Committee (DPC) has finally convened a meeting of the South DPC in the Collectorate building to discuss and deliberate on the Development Plans received from the Zilla Panchayat, besides the village Panchayats  and the Municipal bodies from South district in order to consolidate a district Development plan for the district and forward the plan to the government for consideration.

Take note, the DPC will prepare the draft Development Plan not for the current financial year, but for the 2024-25 financial year following the delay in obtaining the annual plans from the Panchayat and Municipal bodies located in South Goa.

Though the Constitution of India mandates the DPC to prepare a consolidated plan for the district every year and submit the same to the government every year in the month of December, the South DPC had hardly met to prepare the plan over years.

In fact, the last meeting of the South District Planning Committee Meeting  was held way back in January 2020 when the Panel was headed by former South Goa Zilla panchayat Chairperson Navnath Naik.

Considering that the MLAs and MPs of the district are members of the DPC, the DPC Member Secretary Florina Colaco has  started sending the notice of the meetings to the elected representatives, including the members of the DPC, the Chairpersons of the Municipal bodies in the district.

Florina told The Goan on Thursday that the DPC has been called on December 13 for the purpose of finalizing the District Development Plan for the year 2024-25.

Asked whether all the Panchayat and Municipal bodies have submitted the annual development plans to the DPC for incorporation in the district Development plan, Florina informed that none of the Municipal bodies from South Goa has so far submitted the annual plans.

She, however, hastened to add that the Panchayat bodies have started sending the plans, exuding confidence that all the panchayats will send their plans by December 31. “We are preparing the district development plant for the financial year 2024-25. Hence, even if the Panchayats and Municipalities send their annual plans to the DPC after the December 13 meeting, the same will be incorporated in the district Development plan before its submission to the government”, Florina added.

Sources said  this is perhaps the first time that the DPC Member Secretary has set in motion the process to prepare the district development plan by convening a meeting of the members.

Convenor of Goa Panchayati Raj Institutions, J Santan Rodrigues has hoped the members of the DPC,  including the MLAs,  MPs and the Chairpersons of the Municipal Councils, besides the DPC members will turn up for the meeting and help to formulate the district Development Plan. “The DPC is a constitutionally  mandated body and plays the statutory role in the field of planning. Hence, we have been demanding with successive Zilla Panchayat Chairpersons and the Chief Executive Officers to hold the DPCs on time, but in vain. We hope that the meeting convened on December 13 contribute and help in the bottom to top planning as envisaged under the Constitution”, Santan added.