The Verna gram sabha on Sunday descended into prolonged chaos after villagers confronted the panchayat over missing and improperly recorded minutes 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 limited notice to prepare for the meeting, quickly veered into a heated debate over procedural lapses. Villagers also sought clarity on whether they would be allowed to raise questions openly instead of restricting their queries to written submissions.
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However, more than an hour of the proceedings was consumed by disputes over the failure of the former panchayat secretary to correctly record minutes of past meetings. As discussions unfolded, it emerged that the minutes of two consecutive gram sabhas were either incomplete or incorrectly documented.
Responding to the barrage of questions, panchayat members said they had already 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 discrepancies.
This explanation did not pacify the villagers, who accused the panchayat of poor understanding of the Panchayati Raj Act and criticised 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 insisted that discussions and questions from past meetings be properly entered into official records before any fresh business could be taken up.
With tensions escalating and no consensus reached, the panchayat eventually adjourned the meeting.
Speaking to the media outside, villagers said the fiasco made a “mockery of governance”, pointing out that even a basic statutory meeting 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.
Residents further called for a formal complaint against the former panchayat secretary for failing to fulfil the mandatory duty of recording proceedings. 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.
