MAPUSA
Panchayats Minister Mauvin Godinho on Friday told the legislative assembly that there were enough secretaries available and henceforward no Gram Sevaks will be sent as secretaries to village panchayats.
Godinho, however, said that the department could not send engineers for every inspection as there was a shortage of engineers.
“Earlier, secretaries were holding charge of two to three panchayats because there was a shortage of secretaries. But now we have enough secretaries and therefore no Gram Sevak will be posted as secretary,” Godinho said.
The Panchayats Minister was responding to a query from Benaulim MLA Venzy Viegas during the Question Hour.
Viegas brought to the notice of the House that Gram Sevaks were signing in place of secretaries which was not appropriate.
“A Gram Sevak is appointed if he is 12th pass while a secretary post has to have a qualification of graduates. So how can a Gram Sevak sign in the place of the secretary? This is happening in big panchayats like Colva and Benaulim. This has to be stopped,” Viegas said.
Pointing to another anomaly, Viegas said a secretary who is not technically qualified accompanies an inspection at a construction site and signs the documents.
“How can a secretary who has no technical qualification carry out a construction inspection? His signature will not stand the test of law in a court. The inspection of construction has to be done by an engineer,” he said.
The panchayats minister admitted to the logic but expressed helplessness because there was a shortage of engineers in the department.
He also said that for house inspections the secretary could afford to go as the construction had documents signed by a qualified architect and an engineer.
“In any case, we will move a proposal to recruit more engineers but it will take some time,” Godinho said.
