MARGAO
Bureaucrat-turned-politician Elvis Gomes has said that councillors’ allegiance to the politicians is the root cause of the malfunctioning of municipal councils.
The former Director of Municipalities and Congress leader Elvis Gomes said that those elected to local bodies should have unflinching loyalty to the people that elect them and not their so-called political masters so that the functioning of grassroots democracy becomes vibrant and productive.
Responding to reports about the resignation of Cuncolim Municipal Councilor Uddesh Dessai from the market committee after a public spat with the CMC Chairperson Laximan Naik, Gomes said that Dessai’s resignation would trigger a chain of events that may have repercussions on the stability of the council.
He further said that councils did not have a provision for elections on party lines and hence there was a need to have a ‘people’s council’ through unity of councillors in the best interest of the people keeping true democratic traditions in mind.
“The initial euphoria of winning soon dies down as no useful agenda of people’s interest gets discussed due to restrictions imposed by outside political forces that control actions of the elected,” said Gomes.
He said that in the days to come more action would be seen in the council with councillors that feel the responsibility to the people breaking off from the stranglehold of those that seek to control them.
He exuded confidence that he would play a role in future to bring in reforms that will empower representatives in local bodies to play bigger roles in municipal or panchayat governance to eradicate the present ills plaguing these institutions.
