MAPUSA
The Congress on Sunday said “bureaucratic incompetence” and “illegal” lockdown was driving the State to anarchy and lawlessness.
“The panchayats are forcefully directing business establishments to shut shop and restricting the movement of people by issuing illegal lockdown orders ostensibly in the interest of the public. What prevented the panchayats to pass a resolution and get it endorsed by the Collector? We are moving towards anarchy and lawlessness by supporting such orders,” said Shankar Phadte, Porvorim Congress Block President.
He said the Disaster Management Act was in force due to the pandemic and under the Act, nobody can come out with such orders.
“All these panchayats that have unilaterally imposed such lockdowns can be booked under the Disaster Management Act,” he said.
The village panchayats of Calangute, Candolim and Arpora-Nagoa were first to declare their areas as major containment zones and called for an 11-day lockdown within their jurisdiction.
On Saturday, the panchayats of Penha-de-France and Salvador-do-Mundo joined the chorus and declared their areas as micro-containment zones and imposed a 9-day lockdown.
The Porvorim Congress Block Chief said if the panchayats have proper information and data about the Coronavirus infection in Porvorim then they should suggest setting up micro containment zones.
“The panchayats are independent local bodies but here the MLA is seen bullying the panchayats and playing politics. The Porvorim MLA and the two panchayats in the constituency have followed Michael Lobo style of governance,” he averred.
Phadte said the present state of affairs in Goa and the country was because of bureaucratic incompetence.
He said a responsible government officer should issue statements in writing and be ready to face the consequences.
“The government administration functions by written orders not by oral statements...,” said Phadte, who is a lawyer by profession.
The North Goa Collector Ajit Roy on Saturday told The Goan that local bodies have the responsibility of managing their own jurisdiction as part of a voluntary effort to tackle the Covid crisis.
Phadte acknowledged that there was a need to break the Covid chain but it has to be a total lockdown across the State.
“In the absence of a total lockdown by the State it is now left to us individuals to stay in and stay safe and behave responsibly,” he said.
