Seraulim had new guests during the Assembly elections. The talathi and the office of the Mamlatdar have overridden the panchayats to list new members and residents in the electoral rolls, thereby introducing people who don’t even belong to the village.

“There are scores of migrants who don’t even live in the village on rent but under a c/o title of a resident in Seraulim, these individuals are made legal voters in Seraulim. The problem now is that with the new population, the State Election Commission will propose nine wards in the village and then areas like Socobhat may even see a representation of migrants thereby changing the dynamics of the village,” explains Elvis Coutinho, panch member from Bolcho Waddo.

Seraulim panchayat has had its fair share of problems in the last five years from massive building projects eating into the water and electricity consumption and adding garbage. The other issues are trying to save its low lying fields, water bodies, and ponds. But for the seven-member Seraulim panchayat, the issue they are grappling with is the huge surge of migrants in the village.

These migrants work in the coastal areas of Velsao, Cansaulim, Arossim, Majorda, Colva, Benaulim and Sernabatim. Even in the current elections politicians addressed voters in Hind at their corner meetings to woo the migrants.

“The village is filled with migrants who live in rented rooms illegally and some even defecate in the open. Also the train connectivity to Vasco due to the railways station in the village makes it feasible for migrants who work at the port town to also settle in the village. Sadly the panchayat and the people are completely either left in the dark or not consulted in making them legal voters,” stated John Pereira, Seraulim resident.

The talathi office explained to Herald that guidelines for enrolling voters is the same across India and cannot be tweaked for a certain village. And if a voter has a residence proof or bank records confirming the address then the talathi has no legal rights to deny them from registering as a legal voter.

Former sarpanch Seby Noronha admits there is a large number of outsiders not originally from the village now on the election rolls in Seraulim but Seby feels that it’s very difficult to classify them as migrants unless a physical check is done since some could be individuals who have bought a flat or plot in the growing construction of the village or could be someone shown on rent somewhere in the village.

But Seby is clear that the migrants with voting rights within the village are increasing.