MARGAO: In a blatant violation of the Panchayat Raj Act, 29 out of 30 panchayats in Salcete have neglected to convene the mandatory ordinary gram sabha meetings in the month of January. As per the Act, sub-section (1), Section 5, Chapter II, specifies that there should be four ordinary meetings of the Gram Sabha, with one held on any Sunday of January, April, July, and October of every year, to be convened by the Sarpanch.
Surprisingly, only one panchayat, Aquem-Baixo, adhered to this requirement and held its gram sabha on January 28. The absence of these mandated meetings has raised concerns about the adherence to democratic processes at the grassroots level. When questioned about this lapse, Salcete Block Development Officer (BDO) Nimisha Fal Dessai mentioned that her office would issue directions to the panchayats to convene the gram sabha. According to sub-section 4 of the same Chapter of the Act, the BDO has the authority to convene the gram sabha in the following month if the Sarpanch fails to do so in the specified month.
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However, it is a common practice for the BDO to encourage the Sarpanch to convene the meeting, and gram sabhas are often held in February or even March instead of January.
Sarpanch of Chandor-Cavorim, Estefanio Dias, justified the delay, stating, “We are waiting for the audit report, which is required to prepare the budget for the next year, and as that has not been given yet, we did not convene the gram sabha in January.”
Other sarpanchas from Salcete echoed a similar sentiment, emphasising that they would need to convene a special gram sabha before March 31 to approve the budget, as the next ordinary gram sabha is scheduled for April.
