CANACONA
Stating that he is an important figure in the State government, Speaker Ramesh Tawadkar told Agonda residents that no works proposed by him can be rejected and they should bring maximum proposals to his attention.
Tawadkar even asked the residents to bring five major projects/proposals in the first years, even to the extent 5-30 crores of rupees and he will get it done for the people of Agonda. Tawadkar who attended the first gram sabha of the new Panchayat at Agonda breifly, later addressed the residents soon after Sarpanch Fatima Rodrigues adjourned the gram sabha and invited Tawadkar to address the villagers who came in large numbers to participate in the meeting on Sunday.
Expressing his concern for the overall development of Agonda village, the MLA informed the villagers that something good will happen this time in Agonda and people have kept their faith in the newly elected Sarpanch and Panch members, and asked the panchayat to study all the issues raised by members and accordingly solve them all.
"My full cooperation is with your panchayat. I am next to the Chief Minister. If I say no, development won't happen. But there's no question of saying no, and whatever works are there, proposals will go through me and it will be done without fail," Tawadkar told the gathering amidst wild applause.
Tawadkar also called for formation of 50 members or induct even more people in the village committee to identify, pursue and oversee the completion of various works/proposals needed in the village. "Let all the intellectuals and social workers jointly work for the upliftment of the village," he said.
Stating his concept that panchayat is a government NGO, Tawadkar mentioned 'mission' and 'vision' will function on the same concept with the local bodies. Reacting to members' demands earlier in the gram sabha, Tawadkar assured to commence laying of underground power cables in Agonda in the next six months. "Ii will solve the low voltage, voltage fluctuations and assure 100% uninterrupted power supply. Rs 43 crores have been approved for underground cabling works, the tender for which will be finalised in the next three months and the works should definitely start after six months, but certainly before end of one-year period," Tawadkar said.
"Water supply is a serious problem, despite having two dams in Canacona. Gaunem dam completed in 2017, has not seen any progress for the last five years and I have taken the WRD officials to task over its delay in commissioning. After seeking details of last five years' expenses by WRD in Canacona, which they informed as 'nil', I even asked the director to close both WRD sub-divisions functioning with 1 AEV, 4 JEs and 42 staff in Canacona and fix the responsibility as to who is responsible; whether the AE/JEs at Canacona or top bureaucrats sitting in Panaji for not expending a single rupee in Canacona during last five years. The chief secretary has sought eight days time to respond," Tawadkar informed.
