the goan I network
Porvorim
The gramsabha of Guirim panchayat witnessed heated arguments over the issue of garbage tax, garbage collection, LED lights, etc.
After sarpanch Chaitali Morajkar welcomed the villagers and panchayat secretary Arjun Velip read out the minutes of the last gram sabha meeting, panch member Fondu Naik displayed a photograph showing panchayat secretary Velip conducting hearing of a case in the absence of the Sarpanch and Dy.Sarpanch.
“However, the husband of the Sarpanch was present in the cabin while the hearing was going on,” Naik claimed seeking to know why the Sarpanch’s husband was sitting in the cabin.
This question enraged Morajker which led to heated arguments between her and the panch member as well as the villagers. The panchayat secretary then intervened and mentioned that he has a right to conduct hearings in absence of the Sarpanch and the Dy Sarpanch and that the husband of the Sarpanch had come to meet him.
Naik then mentioned that the panchayat has increased garbage tax from Rs.100 per year to Rs.365 per year without taking the garbage committee into confidence and getting the approval of the gram sabha.
“This is illegal, and hence the panchayat should revoke the decision. The hike in the garbage tax is 265% which is unreasonable. The panchayat should reduce the garbage tax for the households and increase it for hotels and business houses,” said Naik.
To this, Morajker mentioned that the panch members had taken the decision to increase the garbage tax since the villagers in the last gram sabha had demanded collection of garbage on a door-to-door basis. “It is not possible now to reverse the decision,” she claimed and added that the panch member was free to challenge the decision of increasing garbage tax with the concerned authorities.
Amidst the chaos, panchayat secretary presented the budget estimates of the panchayat for the year 2018-19 and Income and Expenditure for the year 2017-18.
