Goa needs ‘Operation Clean-up’ to rid panchayat bodies of corruption
The magisterial inquiry report into the nightclub inferno at Arpora early last month that killed 25 persons has officially exposed systemic failures and corruption in the administration. It unravels all that and more, all of which citizens were aware of. It is not that government agencies were unaware, but no one acted till lives were lost.
The findings have brought to light collusion between various departments, government agencies and panchayat leaders. A nightclub, or for that matter any kind of business of such a scale, requires several permissions and NOCs. In this case, we saw how panchayat leaders – sarpanch and secretary – went out of their way to allow a nightclub to operate without a valid licence, throwing safety to the winds.
The report states that the club was functioning without a licence. Its trade licence had expired on March 31, 2024, and the sarpanch and secretary were well aware of this. The premises should have been sealed after the expiry of the trade licence. This is the process normally followed for small-time businesses.
When the tragedy occurred, the same sarpanch blamed the directorate of panchayats for staying the demolition order issued by the Arpora panchayat, giving the impression that he was upright. The fact is that the panchayat delayed in executing the demolition, allowing the property owner to challenge the order before the directorate of panchayats. Both the sarpanch and secretary had ignored irregularities despite red flags raised by some complainants. When activists, concerned citizens and media have raised such illegalities in the tourist belts, the government has remained silent, emboldening the corrupt officers at the lower rung of the administration.
Based on the magisterial report, the Director of Panchayat Mahadev Araundekar has ordered the dismissal of the secretary, Raghuvir Bagkar, from service for “grave dereliction of duty”. He makes interesting observations in his order. He says that Bagkar entertained the application dated December 11, 2023, for the issue of trade licence to the establishment “despite serious infirmities in the application, which could have been noticed even by a layman”. He says that the application and documents enclosed had visible signs of forgery. The required documents – the approved plan/rough sketch, photo of the structure and Forms I and XIV, etc – were not found enclosed with the application.
There is also irregularity pertaining to the allotment of house numbers. “It is evident that there is no actual premises for which the house number was allotted, the magisterial inquiry committee has observed,” states the DoP order.
Acting on the instructions of the Chief Minister Pramod Sawant, the sarpanch has been disqualified for abuse/misuse of power. He has been barred from contesting elections or holding panchayat office for five years.
The findings of the inquiry have revealed that there is not only collusion to support illegalities, but there are also no checks and balances to ensure that the law of the land is followed. Action is being taken based on the inquiry report. However, will the government bring in central agencies such as Income Tax, ED, etc, to look into the assets of the panchayat leaders? The full report is not made public yet. Hopefully it will bring out the nexus with the higher-ups.
The government cannot look at this Birch incident in isolation. This appears to be just the tip of the iceberg. There are several complaints of CRZ violations. Over the decades, the authorities have been ignoring such complaints or acting selectively. There has to be a comprehensive audit of the decisions taken by the panchayats along the coastal areas of the state, and necessary action has to be initiated.
