MARGAO: The Betalbatim gram sabha on Sunday unanimously resolved that ballot papers be used for all elections that will be held henceforth besides also demanding to know what happened to the proposal to beautify the Betalbatim junction for which only part of the land was acquired.
Besides, the gram sabha also objected to the dropping of “any other business” from the agenda of the gram sabha and asked the panchayat to write to the Director of Panchayat to permit this in the agenda. Pointing out that all cannot write, the villagers also said that very often some matters occur on the eve of the gram sabha and there is no time to give in writing about it five days before the meeting.
Referring to various reports and instances that had established that the Electronic Voting Machines used for election in India can be manipulated, a villager said that henceforth ballot papers be used for all elections.
He said the increasing claims that EVMs were manipulated have proved that the machines are not performing satisfactorily and argued that the use of ballot papers does not leave any scope for such charges and hence said that ballot papers be used for election in future. All the people present for the gram sabha supported him.
Hence, the gram sabha unanimously resolved on this matter and the panchayat was asked to send a copy of the resolution to the Election Commission of India and other officials.
The gram sabha also demanded to know what had happened to the proposal to beautify the Betalbatim junction where a traffic island and a park was proposed and land belonging to the Betalbatim church was even acquired for it.
As the panchayat members did not know the status the gram sabha members asked the panchayat to find out the status of the proposal and also asked the panchayat to request the local MLA to raise the matter in the assembly.
The Gram Sabha also constituted a 21 member garbage management committee headed by the Sarpanch Constancio Miranda and another 8 member Village Child Development Committee.
The Gram Sabha also approved the Gram Panchayat Development Plan that accorded priority to education and suggested the maintenance and improvement of the anganwadis and schools in the village.
Besides recommending certain drains to be constructed and some nullahs to be maintained the Gram Panchayat Development Plan also recommended setting up a centre for senior citizens and improving the playground to help the youth remain healthy and fit.
