The Village Panchayats were established in Goa in 1962 – they have completed 62 years. They were established with the main aim of giving the people of Goa good village governance. It is time to evaluate the village governance today and rectify what has gone wrong in the very system, in order to achieve the good of the village.
The Goa Village Panchayat Raj Act 1994, is the Rule Book by which the Panchayats of Goan Villages are to be governed. It is often observed that the Sarpanch and the Panchas are blatantly ignorant of various articles of the said Act and many of them may not have read them. It is a toothless Act, since the control is in the hands of the politicians.
The 73 and 74 Amendments to the Constitution of India, give wide ranging powers to the Panchayats, but in Goa again, these powers are limited by the powers that may be in power at a given time.
Subsequently various committees like Development Committees were to be constituted as per the various Finance Commissions but most of them remained on paper only.
In 2016, the Government of Goa by its Office Gazette Series I No. 16 dated 21st July 2016, led to the constitution of various Village Panchayat Committees such as: Village Development Committees, Garbage Committees, etc.
The Central Bio-diversity Act 2002, subsequently amended in 2023, ordered the constitution of Biodiversity Committees in the villages. These village Bio-diversity Committees are mandated to map the bio-diversity of the village and update the PBR from time to time.
Despite all that is said about the Village Panchayats, they are far from the effective achievement of the lofty aims envisaged in the various Rules and Acts in order to give the village good governance.
If we look at Goan Village Scenarios today, we have to sadly admit that the Panchayats, instead of contributing to the peaceful and overall development of our villages, have only divided our village people, creating groups fighting against each other. The Sarpanch, mostly allied with the local MLA has his own group of supporters set against the opposite group. Similarly, most of the Panchas have their own supporters and opponents. This vivid division is clearly noticed in our Gram Sabhas where, instead of listening to the one who speaks the truth and follow it, people will oppose him/her creating noise disturbances where one can hardly be heard. Thus most of the Gram Sabha’s time is wasted and villagers say it is useless to attend them. Perhaps if a Speaker is appointed to conduct the Gram Sabha proceedings, the problem could be solved.
I fail to understand why the Police Force is brought to the Gram Sabhas. Village matters/issues should be peacefully discussed by the Villagers and solutions arrived at for the good of the village.
We have been hearing for some years that a New Goa Panchayati Raj Act is on the anvil but it is not known when it will become a reality. The present Act has several lacunae and many articles are to be redrafted, if the good of the villages is to be achieved.
I would suggest some important changes as follows:
A. House numbers, hut numbers and structure numbers
Residential houses have house numbers. Huts where people reside can be given a residential hut number. There are other huts around the house for storing firewood, salt, other things, etc. These huts are to be measured in area and given hut numbers. People have seen so many huts being given house numbers which afterwards have been converted into pakka houses.
In our villages, there are so many structures which are to be surveyed as structures. There are monuments built in honor of freedom fighters or prominent people of the village. Likewise, temples, churches, mosques, crematoriums and cemeteries, forts etc are to be recorded as structures. All of them should have proper structure numbers with a description of the structure and the area occupied by it.
Next come the shop/shed numbers. These also cannot be given house numbers but should be recorded as shops /sheds with the area occupied by them.
B. Gram Sabhas
Gram Sabhas are the most important village body meetings where the villagers meet to discuss the well-being and progress of their villages and the issues affecting them. They are sacred temples of democracy at the grass root level of the village. They should be marked with transparency and accountability but unfortunately, many villagers try to avoid them because of the fights taking place at most of them and the unsatisfactory replies given by the Presidents, especially about big construction projects, fearing that the Gram Sabha may block them straight away.
Another ticklish issue is about two villages having a common Village Panchayat and a common Gram Sabha. One village only is affected by one issue while the other is not. How does the common Gram Sabha decide about the issue / project? Shouldn’t that affected village only decide about it? The validity of such common Gram Sabha decisions can become a legal battle. It is a question to be dealt with legally.
C. Regulate aberration
Just two and a half years back, we have seen no-confidence motion moved against the Sarpanch, in a particular village, just the next day of being elected a Sarpanch. There is also another case where a no-confidence motion was moved against the elected Sarpanch within 15 days of his election, with the ostensible reason that he had failed to carry out the development of the village. What development can one expect from the Sarpanch within 15 days of election to the post? Therefore, there is need to regulate this aberration.
D. Time bound proposals
Many Panchayats do not accept any other topic in the Gram Sabha meetings, stating that they have not been submitted within the time limit of four days before the meeting.
Unforeseen issues may have cropped up affecting the village in the last four days which require urgent discussion. The Panchayat cannot reject such a topic only on the ground that it is brought at the last minute.
E. And lastly, a word about Panchayat Secretaries
Panchayat Secretaries are appointed by the Government. They are supposed to guide the Panchayat according to the Goa Panchayat Rules and Regulations. They also write the minutes of the Panchayat Body Meetings as well as Gram Sabha Meetings. It is observed that many of these Secretaries who are political appointees, do not even know elementary English in order to record the minutes correctly. Many people and I myself have observed this many times. For e.g. They write: he/she ‘sad’, instead of ‘said’, and commit many such mistakes, thus distorting the correct meaning of the words.
There are many other issues about Panchayats that cannot be written in a small article of this nature. I hope that the new Panchayati Raj Act will take into account the many issues affecting the Panchayat Raj in Goa and once drafted, will be kept for public scrutiny, inviting suggestions and objections before it is finalized, as it was done, in the Goa Agriculture Policy.
(The author is a well –known columnist and author of the book ‘GoanVillage
Communities’)