the goan I network
MARGAO
More than three months and half after the post had fallen vacant, the village panchayat of Carmona finally got a new sarpanch, with activist Allwyn George taking over the reins of office on Wednesday.
Promising to accord topmost priority to get the panchayat back on the tracks, Allwyn has sought the cooperation of the panchayat body, village groups and the youth associations to take the village to greater heights.
In the elections held on Wednesday, Allwyn, who is a serving Chief Engineer in the merchant Navy, defeated former sarpanch Sandra Fernandes by 4-3 votes.
He later told the media that the village has been through ups and downs in recent times, adding his priority is to get the panchayat on the right track. “Constituting the Village Development Committee and formulating the Gram Panchayat Development Plan (GPDP) will be my topmost priority,” he said.
Saying that the garbage is a serious issue facing Carmona village, the new sarpanch said the new body will try to resolve the issue at the earliest. On the development front, he said whatever development has to be taken up at the panchayat level will be taken up after taking the panchayat body, village groups and the youth associations into confidence. “We will try to bring all the people together in an attempt to take the village to greater heights. We have suffered in the past on certain issues, which are dear to the people of Carmona,” he added.
Saying that he expects cooperation from the villagers, village groups and youth associations, the new sarpanch said the panchayat will sort out the all issues at the body.
On the political front, Allwyn said that local MLA Churchill Alemao had given his backing to the panchayat in the past. “In the past, I and Sandra had put up the playground proposal to the MLA and he had positively helped the panchayat.”
Churchill fails to wrest control over panchayat as close aide loses
MARGAO: Benaulim MLA Churchill Alemao’s plan to establish his hold over the Carmona village panchayat came a cropper after his close aide and former sarpanch Sandra Fernandes losing the battle for the post of sarpanch on Wednesday.
Churchill, however, said the result of the Carmona sarpanch is not a setback for him, reminding that he had won the Assembly election without the support of some of the panchayats.
Soon after the by-election for a panchayat ward around a week ago, wherein his close relative Jose Francisco Da Costa was elected the new member, Churchill had told the media that his group led by Sandra would take control over the Carmona panchayat body. On Wednesday, however, Sandra, lost the election to activist Allwyn by 3-4 votes.
Sources in the know informed that the Carmona social welfare forum also played its role in Wednesday’s election to stop Churchill’s candidate from making it to the coveted post.
