PANAJI
Nearly one-fourth of the State's village panchayats failed to hold even a single mandatory Gram Sabha meeting during the first quarter (April–June) of the current financial year, despite the Goa Panchayat Raj Act requiring every panchayat to convene at least four meetings every year, spread across the four quarters.
Data uploaded on the Union Ministry of Panchayati Raj's ‘Panchayat NIRNAY’ portal shows that of the State's 191 village panchayats, only 147 conducted the mandatory first-quarter Gram Sabha, while 44 failed to convene the meeting. The compliance rate is around 76.96 per cent.
A total of 229 Gram Sabha meetings were held across the 147 compliant village panchayats during the quarter.
The data shows South Goa emerged as the worst-performing district, with nearly 43 per cent of its village panchayats failing to hold the mandatory meeting. Of the 89 village panchayats in the district, 38 did not convene a Gram Sabha during the April–June period, while only 51 panchayats held a total of 65 meetings.
North Goa, on the other hand, recorded significantly better compliance. Of its 102 village panchayats, 96 held at least one Gram Sabha, while only six failed to do so. A total of 164 Gram Sabha meetings were conducted in the district.
Under the Goa Panchayat Raj Act, every village panchayat is required to hold at least four ordinary Gram Sabha meetings every year, with one meeting scheduled in each quarter to ensure public participation in grassroots planning and governance. These meetings provide villagers an opportunity to review development works, scrutinise panchayat finances and raise local issues before elected representatives.
The Ministry's data also paints a worrying picture for the second quarter (July–September). As of now, only 19 village panchayats have scheduled their Gram Sabha meetings, while of the remaining 172, over 90 per cent are yet to fix dates, indicating that another round of widespread non-compliance could be on the cards unless meetings are scheduled soon.
Among the South Goa panchayats that failed to hold a first-quarter Gram Sabha were Assolda, Assonora, Benaulim, Bandora, Bhoma, Borim, Camurlim, Cavelossim, Chandor, Chicalim, Bogmalo, Colva, Curtorim, Davorlim, Durbhat, Kalay, Kirlapal-Dabal, Majorda, Marcaim, Nagoa, Nuvem, Panchwadi, Paroda, Quela, Rachol, Sancoale, Sanvordem, Sarzora, Shiroda, Tivrem-Orgao, Usgao-Ganjem, Ugem, Velsao-Pale, Verna and Xeldem.
In North Goa, the panchayats that failed to convene the mandatory meeting were Arambol, Corlim, Goltim-Navelim, Neura, St Estevam and Sao Matias.
