Historic first, but stalled: South Goa’s district development plan gathers dust

File photo of the meeting of the District Planning Committee, South Goa chaired by South ZP Chairperson Suvarna Tendulkar and Member Secretary Florina Colaco. Then Minister Aleixo Sequeira and Navelim MLA Ulhas Tuenkar had attended the meeting to approve

MARGAO
The incumbent District Planning Committee, headed by the BJP-ruled South Goa Zilla Panchayat chairperson, will go down in history for preparing the first-ever consolidated “District Development Plan” for the financial year 2024–25. This milestone comes nearly 25 years after the formation of the Zilla Panchayats in Goa, as mandated under Article 243ZD of the Constitution of India.

As curtains come down on the current five-year tenure of the South Goa Zilla Panchayat, however, it has become increasingly evident that the ambitious plan — comprising of 3,400-odd development proposals estimated at a staggering Rs 229.42 crore — has found no favour with the BJP government.

In fact, the plan lies buried in cold storage, with no funds sanctioned to implement the proposed developmental projects to date.

The immediate fallout of the government’s apathy and indifference has dealt a severe blow to the bottom-up planning process envisioned by the Constitution. With no support forthcoming to take the process to its logical conclusion, the momentum has been lost, and the planning process has come full circle — back to square one.

In fact, the South Goa District Planning Committee has not convened even once to prepare a consolidated District Development Plan for the financial year 2025–26. Looking ahead, the plan for 2026–27 also appears uncertain, as Zilla Panchayat elections scheduled for November–December, further jeopardising district-level planning process in South Goa.

Planning process in limbo

Officials closely involved in the district development planning process say the government’s inaction on the 2024–25 plan has seriously undermined their efforts.

“The mandate of the District Planning Committee (DPC) is to consolidate the development plans received from panchayats, Municipal bodies, and the South Goa Zilla Panchayat into a draft district plan and submit it for government approval. But with the 2024–25 plan in limbo, how can we go back to these bodies and ask for fresh proposals?” questioned a senior official involved in the process.

The official further pointed out that local body heads are growing increasingly frustrated. “Sarpanchas are regularly asking about the status of the development plans they submitted. When we have no clarity on the fate of the 2024–25 plan, how can we reasonably expect these bodies to submit new proposals for 2025–26? It’s like asking for something more when we haven’t delivered on what was promised earlier,” the official added.

As South Goa’s long-awaited District Development Plan gathers dust, the constitutional vision of decentralised, inclusive, and grassroots-driven planning remains a distant dream.

Over 3,400 proposals consolidated in DDP

On January 11, 2024, the District Planning Committee (DPC), under the chairmanship of Suvarna Tendulkar, has consolidated the 2024–25 District Development Plan, comprising over 3,400 development proposals. This significant effort reflects the submissions received from various grassroots institutions, with a substantial portion coming from panchayat bodies.

Of the total proposals, a staggering 3,119 development plans were submitted by local panchayats, while 346 proposals came from the South Goa Zilla Panchayat (ZP). Notably, no proposals were submitted by municipal bodies across the district —except for the Margao Municipal Council, whose engineer submitted a proposal list at the eleventh hour.

The DPC meeting was chaired by Suvarna Tendulkar and Member Secretary Florina Colaco, and was attended by then Salcete’s lone Minister Aleixo Sequeira. As per protocol, all MPs and MLAs of the district are members of the DPC.

Govt response and official queries

Despite the committee’s consolidated efforts, the fate of the District Development Plan remains uncertain. In April 2024, the South Goa Zilla Panchayat received correspondence from the Directorate of Panchayats, revealing that “higher government officials” had raised objections. According to the correspondence, the proposals lacked clarity and background information. These officials also sought details about district-wise fund allocations made over the past five years.

In response, ZP CEO Florina Colaco firmly defended the plan. She emphasised that the Constitution of India mandates every district to prepare a comprehensive District Development Plan. She also cited the High Court ruling in Writ Petition No. 6 of 2018 (The United Goan Foundation vs The State of Goa), which directed the preparation of a comprehensive and holistic plan in coordination with various departments.

Colaco further pointed to the Goa Panchayat Raj Act, 1994, which mandates that each Zilla Panchayat must annually prepare a District Development Plan, incorporating inputs from panchayat-level planning, and submit it to the District Planning Committee under Section 239 of the Act.

The ZP CEO promptly addressed the clarifications sought by higher authorities. However, no official feedback has been received till date, leaving the status of the 2024–25 plan in limbo.

Says Panchayat rights activist J Santan Rodrigues: “The lack of response from higher authorities has derailed the bottom-up planning process, raising concerns about the effectiveness of decentralised governance and local participation in planning. With over 3,000 grassroots-level proposals hanging in uncertainty, questions remain about the government’s commitment to participatory planning and rural development.”

Section 239 of the Goa Panchayat Raj Act, 1994

Government shall constitute in every district, a District Planning Committee to consolidate the plans prepared by the Zilla Panchayat, Panchayats, and Municipal Councils in the district as a whole. The District Planning Committee shall consolidate the plans prepared by the Zilla Panchayats, Panchayats, Municipal Council in the district and prepare a draft development plan for the district as a whole

Every District Planning Committee shall engage in preparing the draft development plan,-(a) have regard to, (i) the matters of common interest between the Zilla Panchayats, Panchayats and Municipal Councils in the district including special planning, sharing of water and other physical and natural resources, the integrated development of infrastructures and environmental conservation; (ii) the extent and type of available resources whether financial or otherwise; (b) consult such institutions and organisations as the Government may, by order, specify. 

The chairpersons of every District Planning Committee shall forward the development plan, as recommended by such committee to the government