Govt starts land identification in North and South Goa
MAPUSA
Panchayats Minister Mauvin Godinho on Wednesday informed the Goa Legislative Assembly that the government intends to construct Zilla Bhavans in both North and South Goa and is actively identifying suitable land for the proposed buildings.
Responding to a question raised by Navelim MLA Ullhas Tuenkar over the acute staff shortage in the South Goa Zilla Panchayat (ZP) office, Godinho said the government is committed to addressing both infrastructure and manpower issues.
“The South Goa Zilla Panchayat has already proposed the construction of a new Zilla Bhavan, and land identification is in progress. We also plan to construct similar infrastructure for the North Goa ZP,” he stated.
Admitting the shortage of personnel in the South Goa office, Godinho assured that steps will be taken to fill the vacancies.
“There is a vacancy for an upper divisional clerk, and one engineer is presently handling multiple responsibilities. We are aware of the staffing concerns and will soon post additional staff to ease the burden,” he said.
During the discussion, Benaulim MLA Venzy Viegas criticised the government for what he termed a lack of accountability and a proper system to manage the Zilla Panchayats.
“The government appears to be out of touch with the ground reality. There should be a structured approach to address these issues in the ZP offices,” he said.
In his reply, Godinho defended the current administrative setup, stating that both Zilla Panchayats have a functioning structure in place.
“Each ZP has a Chief Executive Officer. Additionally, we have deployed Executive Engineers, Assistant Engineers, Junior Engineers, accountants, and clerical staff. This clearly indicates that there is a system already in place,” he said.
Godinho further reiterated the government’s commitment to strengthening the Zilla Panchayats by ensuring better infrastructure and sufficient staffing to improve administrative efficiency and service delivery.
