No reason cited in her corrigendum
Navelim Panchayat ghar.
MARGAO
In a development that has raised many an eyebrow in political circles, Director of Panchayats Siddhi Halarnkar has ordered the postponement of the election for the vacant post of Sarpanch of Navelim village panchayat scheduled on Thursday.
In fact, mystery shrouds the Panchayats Director’s decision since neither reason was cited by her in a Corrigendum issued by her on Wednesday evening nor did the Director cite the provision of Goa Panchayati Raj Act empowering her to postpone the election.
All that the Panchayats Director has mentioned in the corrigendum that the order of the election of Sarpanch of village Panchayat Navelim stands postponed until further orders.
The Panchayats Director’s sudden decision has indeed become a subject matter of debate in Navelim political circles since the order has come on the eve of the election of the Navelim Sarpanch.
Given the sudden decision, the office of the Salcete Block Development officer has informed the Panchayat members about the postponement of the Thursday’s election.
Navelim Panchayat member Paul Pereira who was widely tipped to take over the reigns of office of Navelim Sarpanch expressed his dismay as well as surprise over the Panchayat Director’s postponement order. “We are indeed surprised over the Panchayat Director’s order, more so when the order has not cited any reason behind postponing the election”, Paul said.
He disclosed plans to lead a delegation of Panchayat members to the Panchayat Director to seek explanation on the reasons behind postponing the election.
The post of Navelim sarpanch had fallen vacant exactly a month ago when outgoing Sarpanch Michael Cardozo had tendered his resignation. Sources informed that the Goa Panchayat Raj Act mandates the Director of Panchayat to hold election to fill the vacant post of sarpanch within 60 days. In the instant case, the Director has still another month left to convene a meeting of the Panchayat members to elect the new Sarpanch before the expiry of the 60 day period. However, what has raised many an eyebrow in Navelim political circles over the Panchayat Director’s decision is the Director has not cited any reason behind her decision to postpone the election scheduled on Thursday.
