PANAJI
The government on Tuesday was held to account on the matter of implementing the Panchayat Raj system in letter and spirit with legislators demanding that a fool proof system of devolution of funds be put in place and the officers of the directorate of panchayats closely monitor the functioning of these local self-government bodies at the grassroot level.
Aam Aadmi Party's (AAP) Velim MLA, Cruz Silva demanded that Block Development Officers (BDOs) exercise the powers in the Act to ensure that the quarterly gram sabhas are held regularly.
"The BDO's have power to themselves convene the gram sabhas if sarpanchas default," Silva said, demanding that the officers be issued strict instructions to exercise these powers.
Silva also said that regular transfers of panchayat secretaries was necessary to ensure that they do not hold the position in the same panchayat for too long and become power centres and authorities unto themselves, misusing their powers and harassing local citizens.
The Velim MLA citied examples of some panchayat secretaries, who he said were abusing powers and riding roughshod in their positions.Silva was backed by his party colleague and Benaulim MLA, Venzy Viegas, who claimed a similar situation in his constituency.
Viegas said there are cases where there is evidence of messages circulating on social media where the panchayat secretary in Colva has been making illegal demands and sought the intervention of the government to ensure that the officials are at least transferred and they do not return to the same position for at least 3-4 years.
Congress' Aldona MLA Carlos Ferreira Alvares demanded that the Directorate of Panchayats should have a clear-cut policy on devolution of funds to the panchayats. He also said that these village level bodies face severe financial crisis throughout the year as State funding is arbitrary or the funds are not disbursed timely.
The Aldona MLA also stressed that some of the rates fixed for devolution of funds are outdated and should be revised. He cited the example of grass or bush cutting rates which he said were fixed several years ago and with inflation the panchayats can hardly meet the costs.
He also questioned the practice of delimitation of wards at every election saying it is unnecessary and disturbs the whole ecosystem of grassroot level democracy.
Cuncolim MLA Yuri Alemao and GFP's Vijai Sardesai censured the government for failing to devolve powers to the Zilla Panchayats. Sardesai said at the time of the last ZP poll election, the government had promised to build ZP bhavans in both the districts and demanded that the State government fulfil the promise.
Sardesai also demanded that the government appoint a special additional director to exclusively handle the quasi-judicial matters in the department to ensure speedy and timely justices to litigants.
