PANAJI
The Panchayat department has allotted funds of Rs 10.83 crore to the 191 Gram Panchayats for waste management in the last five years. however, most GPs claim that this fund is insufficient and that they have to spend a part of the funds provided to them by the Finance Commission.
The garbage management issue has come to fore, after the Chief Minister alleged of corruption in the funds saying that the issue has become grave because some of the GPs and Municipalities mismanage the funds. It has come to light that during the past five years all the Panchayats received a fund of Rs 10.83 crore only for waste/garbage management. In the year 2018-19 the funds were the largest, Rs 3.78 crore while in other four years the average of the fund remained Rs 2 crore.
Mandrem Sarpanch Amit Sawant claimed that the funds given by the Panchayat department do not last for a year. He also pointed out that the Panchayats having most number of wards and the least number of wards, both are given the same amount of money, making the bigger Panchayats difficult to manage garbage in that money. The salaries of the workers have increased. Ibrampur Panchayat gets Rs 3 lakh for the entire year, and this is insufficient for garbage disposal, claimed Sarpanch Ashok Dhauskar.
The Panchayat fund is not sufficient even for four months, and the Chief Minister is blaming us for corruption, which is unfair, stated a Sarpanch on the condition of anonymity.
The Municipal Councils do not get separate funds for garbage management from the Town Planning department. They have to manage within the funds allocated to them by the Finance Commission. Most Muncipal Councils neglect the issue because sufficient funds are not at hand, said Gurudas Pilarnkar, Director, Town Planning.
According to the budgetary provisions, the Panchayat department gets annual Rs 9 lakh for Panchayats in airport area, Rs 7 lakh for Panchayats in coastal area and other Panchayats get Rs 2 lakh and this amount is disbursed in four phases, said Siddhi Halarnkar.
Some Panchayats get full funds during the year. Some get only initial two instalments. That’s why these municipalities spend a part of the funds given by the Finance Commission on garbage/waste management.
Most Panchayats have constructed MIF facility. Regular directives are being issued so that the waste disposal issue is not neglected.
