MARGAO
The gram sabha of the Varca panchayat witnessed an uproar on Sunday even as the police made their presence felt at the meeting hall to maintain order.
Uproarious scenes were witnessed at the meeting chaired by sarpanch Salesiana Fernandes, with members raising a host of questions even as the sarpanch reminded that members need to submit their questions to the panchayat for inclusion in the meeting agenda.
At one time, deputy sarpanch Roland Fernandes was heard saying that the sarpanch will have no option but to adjourn the meeting if the chaos continues, but his announcement was greeted by protests by the members.
While the ruling group headed by the sarpanch was all seated on the dais, the opposition group led by Sharon D’Costa was seated in the audience.
There were allegations and counter-allegations by the ruling and opposition members on a host of issues. Some of the members who sought to raise questions insisted it was their right to raise issues at the gram sabha.
One of the members sought to raise the issue of mega housing projects in the village, to which the sarpanch sought to know the definition of mega projects. She said such huge projects have not been proposed in the village, adding that construction files of projects come to the panchayat only with technical clearance from the Town and Country Planning department.
Panch Sharon D’Costa insisted that the panchayat conduct a proper inspection of the housing projects with stress on sewage and garbage disposal at the time of issuance of Occupancy certificates.
The issue of water shortage at Pedda-Varca was also raised by the members. The sarpanch and deputy pointed out that the PWD had inspected the water pipeline to find out the exact problem. The sarpanch later told the media that she is also suffering from water scarcity, adding that the PWD has promised to soon find out a solution.
The sarpanch later told the media that the gram sabha has approved the budget estimates for the 2023-24 financial year, pointing out that the budget allocated for sports has been increased from Rs 1.5 lakh to Rs 4.5 lakh.
Meanwhile, after the meeting, the opposition group comprising Sharon D’Costa and Edison Rodrigues demanded to know why the panchayat authorities have not transferred the secretary to date. Sharon has alleged that while the panchayat rules mandate the secretary to write the minutes, the minutes of the meetings are being written by the staff members.
