MARGAO: The government has received 25 objections against the modification of gram sabha meeting rules to remove “Any Other Business”. The panchayat minister stated that the rules have not been notified and that a public hearing will be held to decide the objections and suggestions received.
Eight panchayats including Camorlim, Velim, Colva and Navelim were among those who objected to modifying the ruels. While seven of the Panchayats were from Salcete, the only other panchayt outside Salcete that objected to the proposal was Betoda-Nirankal-Conxem-Codar in Ponda Taluka. Federation of Rainbow Warriors, Margao and Ganesha Self Help Group, Sanguem were the two NGOs that objected to the proposal. The rest of the objections were received from citizens from Bardez, Tiswadi, Mormugao, Ponda, Quepem and Salcete.
Interestingly, the secretaries in many gram sabhas are already stopping people from raising any issue under Any Other Business. One of the secretary from Salcete, who had disallowed discussion under AOB last Sunday, informed Herald that he was only following the Order issued by the Director of Panchayat. The Order dated 24/11/2017 was issued by the previous DoP Sandhya Kamat wherein it was stated that there is no provision for “any other subject with the permission of the chair” and therefore secretaries and sarpanchas should ensure that gram sabha meetings are conducted as per agenda points only.
Herald contacted Ajit Panhwadkar, the current DoP to confirm if the order is still in force. He stated that the order has not been withdrawn. When Herald asked why then are the rules being amended to ban AOB when there the Order is currently in force, he refused to comment and stated that any clarification on the draft rules must be sought from the law department
