PORVORIM
Raising concerns on the draft delimitation, former Porvorim MLA Rohan Khaunte has said the draft delimitation proposal is faulty and has been carried out in a hurried manner.
In a letter to the state election commission, Khaunte highlighted various issues pertaining to three villages of Socorro, Salvador do Mundo and Penha de Franca panchayats, which fall in his constituency.
SOCORRO
Khaunte stated that a random change in ward numbers have been the prime concern of residents in Socorro.
“The Goa Panchayat Raj Act and The Goa Panchayat and Zilla Panchayat (Election Procedure) Rules, 1996 do not provide authority to change ward numbers. In the present case, geographical limits have been kept the same, whereas ward numbers have been randomly changed, which is not as per the rules of election procedure,” claimed Khaunte.
“As per the Panchayat Raj Act reservation in different panchayat areas shall be allotted by rotation to different wards. However, random change of ward numbers will have a direct impact on the rule of rotation. If this happens, some wards will continue to have reservations for more than one term, which is against the democratic rule of election,” Khaunte stated.
SALVADOR DO MUNDO
Khaunte stated that multiple instances of random shifting of voters from one ward to another have been the prime concern in Salvador do Mundo.
“In some instances, voters added to a particular ward have no geographical continuity and share no natural boundaries with the ward that they have been shifted into.”
“The delimitation List for Salvador do Mundo panchayat area clearly shows there is no equal distribution of voters across the panchayat area.”
PENHA DE FRANCA
The former Porvorim MLA stated that one major setback in Penha de Franca has been the merging of Ward 1 and Ward 2, which has simultaneously changed the ward numbers of all other wards.
“Moreover, Wards 7, 8, 9 and 10 have been numbered in such a manner that they have no geographical contiguity and do not share natural boundaries with one another. Therefore, the same has to be rectified.”
“The delimitation should have been done systematically and area wise to keep the voting proportion uniform throughout the panchayat area. However, random parts of some wards have been transferred into other wards,” claimed Khaunte.
“Surprisingly, no expert or stakeholders or local representatives have been involved in the process to prepare the draft delimitation proposal.”
Khaunte felt the entire draft delimitation proposal was carried out in a hurried and “shortcut” manner, either to achieve the target of 1,000 voters per ward or to fulfill ulterior interests of those involved in preparing this delimitation plan.
"It is important to keep in mind that the Final Delimitation Proposal will be in force for the next 5 years and hence, every aspect needs to be looked into minutely,” said Khaunte.
