NT Reporter
Panaji
The Santa Cruz gram sabha ended abruptly on Sunday after panchayat members did not answer questions raised by the villagers.
“The Santa Cruz Panchayat rejected all proposals submitted by villagers for the gram sabha,” said villager Aditya Parulekar. “The panchayat is avoiding important questions and hiding information from the people,” he said.
Attendance was very low, with only around 25 villagers present. The sarpanch was also absent.
“Four of us had submitted proposals well in advance. But the panchayat said that the proposals were not acceptable because they did not fall under Section 6 of the Goa Panchayat Raj Act, 1994. According to the panchayat, the proposals were mainly requests for information that could be collected through RTI applications or from other government offices. The proposals were discussed in a special meeting on 14 of this month, and members decided not to allow them to be presented at the gram sabha,” said Parulekar, adding that they were not even allowed to discuss their questions. He alleged that the panchayat has no transparency.
Another villager, Verina Araujo, also had her proposal rejected. She said she had asked for details about this year’s expenditure, pending development works, and setback rules for construction
licences.
“RTIs submitted to the Santa Cruz Panchayat are not answered within the required time,” she alleged.
Another villager said the deputy sarpanch called him to ask why he filed an RTI and told him to withdraw his questions. He alleged that his question about the village child committee was ignored.
Villagers also alleged that the panchayat was charging “over-exaggerated fees” including a transfer fee of Rs 25,000.
