Socorro Sarpanch Soniya Pednekar while addressing residents at the Socorro Gram Sabha. Photo by Anil Shankhwalker
Issues pertaining to tax arrears were discussed at length in the Gram Sabha of Socorro on Sunday.
Socorro Sarpanch Soniya Pednekar welcomed the gathering, while Panchayat Secretary Satish Gawas presented the minutes of the last Gram Sabha.
Gawas also read out the details of the audit report for the years 2022-23 and 2023-24. He then mentioned that the tax arrears, including house tax, professional tax, hoarding tax, etc. as of March 31, 2025 had risen to Rs 2.51 crore.
Soter D’Souza mentioned that the tax arrears are quite high and sought to know what steps panchayat has taken to recover these tax arrears.
Gawas replied that the panchayat had sent demand notices to more than 4,000 residents in a bid to recover the arrears. He said the owners of some houses and flats have gone abroad and in such cases, the panchayat has pasted the demand notices on the doors of their houses/flats.
In regard to hoarding tax arrears, Dinesh Bhobe mentioned that the panchayat should remove those hoardings which have tax arrears.
“People are taking the panchayat very lightly and hence, the panchayat should act strictly against the defaulters,” said Bhobe.
Some villagers mentioned that new constructions are in full swing in Socorro but the boards depicting details of some construction projects have not been displayed, making it difficult to know what project has been planned at the site.
Gawas replied that in the construction license issued by the panchayat it is clearly mentioned that a board indicating the project details should be displayed at the construction site.
“The panchayat will ensure that contractors/builders strictly follow these instructions,” said Gawas. Panch member Ravlu Parsekar later proposed the vote of thanks.
