The Verna gram sabha on Sunday descend ed into prolonged chaos af ter villagers confronted the panchayat over missing and improperly recorded min utes of not just the previous meeting held in July, but also the April gram sabha. The session, which began with residents questioning why they had received lim ited notice to prepare for the meeting, quickly veered into a heated debate over proce dural lapses. Villagers also sought clarity on whether they would be allowed to raise questions openly in stead of restricting their que ries to written submissions. However, more than an hour of the proceedings was consumed by disputes over the failure of the former panchayat secretary to cor rectly record minutes of past meetings. As discussions un folded, it emerged that the minutes of two consecutive gram sabhas were either in complete or incorrectly doc umented. Responding to the bar rage of questions, panchayat members said they had al ready written to the Block Development Officer (BDO) about the issue. The BDO, they said, had advised them to proceed with Sunday’s meeting despite the discrep ancies. This explanation did not pacify the villagers, who accused the panchayat of poor understanding of the Panchayati Raj Act and crit icised the frequent “musical chairs” of leadership changes within the body. Residents demanded to know why the panchayat had not sought additional time from the BDO to rectify the matter before convening the gram sabha. They also insist ed that discussions and ques tions from past meetings be properly entered into offi cial records before any fresh business could be taken up. With tensions escalating and no consensus reached, the panchayat eventually ad journed the meeting. Speaking to the media out side, villagers said the fiasco made a “mockery of gov ernance”, pointing out that even a basic statutory meet ing could not be conducted smoothly. They demanded that the BDO attend the next session and explain why the gram sabha was permitted to go ahead despite being aware of the missing minutes. Resi dents further called for a formal complaint against the former panchayat secretary for failing to fulfil the man datory duty of recording pro ceedings. Several villagers, who had turned up expecting to raise pressing local issues, said the panchayat’s inability to resolve the matter forced the adjournment and left key concerns unaddressed.
Chaos at Verna Gram Sabha as Villagers Protest Missing Minutes; Meeting Adjourned
