Chief Minister Pramod Sawant lighting a traditional lamp while Panchayat Minister Mauvin Godhino and others look on at the oath-taking ceremony for newly elected Zilla Panchayat members at the Secretariat hall on Monday. Captured by : Narayan Pissurlenkar
PANAJI
Unmindful of the fact that the Goa Panchayati Raj Act has hardly devolved any powers to the Zilla Panchayats, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant on Monday urged the newly elected and sworn-in members of the two district panchayat bodies to look beyond the funds allocated for petty civil works like building gutters or nullahs and focus on human development goals in their respective areas.
Sawant, who was speaking in the capital city where the newly elected 49 members of the two district-level panchayat bodies were sworn in, said: "Think beyond constructing gutters and roads. Think about human development.”
He also advised the new ZP members to look at the several human development schemes for farmers, underprivileged apart from the differently-abled and ensure that they reach the intended beneficiaries.
A scheme -- Ummid -- which is meant to provide financial aid of up to Rs 1.5 lakh per year to panchayats to hold programmes for seniors citizens had found response from only 35 panchayats. The context of Sawant citing the Ummid scheme during his speech was lost on the new ZP members as they have little if any role to play in the functioning of the village-level bodies.
The Zilla Panchayats have for years been deprived of powers and have come to be described as 'white elephants'. In fact some leaders who were elected members of these bodies in the early years including the late Matanhy Saldanha had questioned the State government's right to not devolve powers.
A group of ZP members led by Saldanha and Advocate Gustavo Clovis Da Costa of Velim had sued the State in the High Court but withdrew the plea after the government promised to devolve powers. The promise, however, was never kept.
None-the-less with little business to transact the two district bodies will have Zilla Panchayat Bhavans of their own in both North Goa and South Goa over the next five years, Sawant announced at the swearing-in ceremony.
Meanwhile the State government issued a notification reserving the post of Chairperson of South Goa Zilla Panchayat for women candidates. Likewise, the Deputy Chairperson of North ZP post has also been reserved for women.
