TEAM HERALD
MARGAO: Kashmiris running business in the coastal village of Majorda dominated the gram sabha of Majorda-Utorda-Calata panchayat on Sunday with villagers demanding that the panchayat revoke licences issued to Kashmiris in the village.
At the gram sabha held on Sunday, villagers demanded to know how the panchayat has given licences to Kashmiris to run business establishments in the village. Sarpanch Moses Vaz clarified that the panchayat has not issued any business licence to the Kashmiris in the village. The gram sabha members, however, strongly objected to the presence of several Kashmiris running businesses outlets in the village and later adopted a resolution to revoke the licences to these establishments.
Sarpanch Vaz, while saying that Kashimris too are Indians and are eligible to conduct business, however, asserted that the panchayat has not issued any licence for a Kashmiri to conduct business. “When the Panchayat had conducted a survey of the establishments around five years ago, the local owners had maintained that they are employing the Kashmiris as managers. Anyway, I have told the grams sabha members to lodge a complaint and the panchayat would again conduct a survey,” the sarpanch told the media.
The damaged Majorda subway also came up for discussion with members demanding its repairs at the earliest along with illumination.
The meeting also discussed a host of issues, including drainage, road repairs, numerous court cases, garbage collections, CCTV installation in panchayat office, BPL scheme, cattle nuisance and migrant verification with police. A police team made its presence felt at the gram sabha to explain to the members on the need to fill up the tenant verification forms.
A gram sabha member demanded to know why huge number of cases are pending in the courts, while demanding streamlining of the panchayat functioning and administration.
