Team Herald
MARGAO: After nearly five years of no activity, District Planning Committee of South Goa will hold its 4th meeting at Mathany Saldanha Administrative Complex, here, on Tuesday.
DPC was constituted vide notification in 2009 and has had only three meetings after that till 2014.
Chairman of the Zilla Parishad South Goa is the Ex Officio Chairperson. MP Lok Sabha South Goa, MP Rajya Sabha, six Zilla Parishad (ZP) members, seven municipal councillors are the members of the DPC. All South Goa MLAs are by default the invitees of the DPC. The 4th DPC meeting will confirm the minutes of the third meeting that was held at least five years ago in 2014.
The last meeting of the DPC was held on October 30, 2014 after which not one meeting was called. The DPC will now meet during the election of Zilla Parishad. The Goa Panchayati Raj Act, 1994 was passed in the Legislative Assembly in1994 and was assented by Governor of Goa in July 1994. Section 238 deals with preparation of Development Plan and Section 239 deals with District Planning Committee (DPC).
The Goa Panchayati Raj Institutions Union said, “In the absence of appropriate rules or directives from the State Government or from the Department of Panchayati Raj at appropriate times the functions of District Planning Committee were limited only to the issue of Notification.”
“In case the government is really interested in the smooth and systematic working of the Zilla Panchayat in the State of Goa, the very first request would be to notify devolving these 29 subjects in the District body for the appropriate planning of the District. This prestigious District body is struggling for existence and posting of appropriate staff to man his developmental exercise,” said former ZP and Goa PRIU Convenor J Santano Fernandes.
