CANACONA
The controversy over the Loliem Gram Sabha and the Loliem-Polem Comunidade meetings scheduled on the same day and virtually the same time on Sunday has been finally resolved, after the Loliem-Polem sarpanch on Tuesday cancelled the Gram Sabha scheduled for February 4.
Following a report in The Goan highlighting that the Loliem Gram Sabha would clash with the Loliem-Polem Comunidade meet, Loliem-Polem Sarpanch Nisha Chari issued a public notice on Tuesday, cancelling the Gram Sabha meeting of Loliem-Polem panchayat fixed on February 4 at 10 am.
“The next date of the Gram Sabha will be declared shortly,” stated the notice signed by Sarpanch, which was put up on the panchayat notice-board for information of public/Gram Sabha members. A copy of the notice has also been forwarded to the Block Development Officer, Canacona.
There had been an uproar among many residents after both important meetings in the village would coincide. Suspecting a “hidden agenda” to hold both key meetings simultaneously in village, many had demanded the postponement of Gram Sabha.
The aggrieved residents and Comunidade components had reportedly met the Loliem-Polem sarpanch and secretary on Monday, and had even apprised the Canacona BDO to highlight the issue and to demand a postponement of the Gram Sabha, but to no avail.
When a report highlighting the issue appeared in The Goan on Tuesday and went viral on social media, the sarpanch issued a notice later in the day to cancel the Gram Sabha on Sunday.
The Loliem-Polem sarpanch had initially fixed a Gram Sabha on Sunday at 10 am, which incidentally happened to be at the same day and almost the same time as the Loliem-Polem Comunidade’s extraordinary General Body Meeting of its components at 10.30 am to discuss the in-principle approval of Entertainment Society of Goa (ESG) and its request for a 99-year lease of 250 acres of land on Bhagwati plateau for a Film City.
Some residents and components of Loliem-Polem Comunidade complained that there are over 130 components in Loliem-Polem Comunidade, who are also Gram Sabha members as well, making it impossible for them to attend both meetings simultaneously. They felt it was a deliberate attempt to deny the members the chance to attend both meetings.
