PANJIM: A St Cruz resident has filed a disqualification petition against the panch of ward number 3 of St Cruz panchayat, Lawrence Marcelino Rodrigues, with the State Election Commission (SEC) stating that the latter used a samaj certificate from a defunct association to obtain the caste certificate and contest the panchayat polls from the reserved ward.
The issue that has been raised before the SEC could have a far-reaching impact as the petitioner, Inacio Dominic Pereira, alleged that many elected panch members across the State have used the samaj certificate issued by the defunct association which is not recognised by the Department of Social Welfare and has no valid registry with the State registrar.
Pereira has submitted RTI copies sourced from the various authorities to the commission contending that the caste certificate secured by Rodrigues is bogus.
As per the petition Rodrigues has submitted the ‘Samaj Certificate’ issued by the ‘Association of Christian Backward Classes’ with his application in the deputy collector, but according to the Department of Social Welfare, the association is not authorised to issue such a certificate. He further submitted that only the ‘Toddy Tappers Association’ is authorised to issue the ‘Christian Render’ caste certificate.
RTI documents from the office of District Registrar further revealed that the association has no valid registration from the District Registrar and hence it becomes an invalid association. “This is the one instance I have brought to the notice of the authorities where no scrutiny has been done while issuing the caste certificates. There are two more elected members in the St Cruz village panchayat who have used the samaj certificate obtained from same association,” Pereira said.
He further said that the association has issued a number of such certificates to the candidates who contested the 2017 panchayat election all over Goa.
“All the samaj certificates issued by Association of Christian Backward Classes should be properly investigated as this association has no right to issue such certificates,” Pereira said.
A complaint has also been filed at the North Goa Collectorate and Revenue Minister to probe the role of Deputy Collector of Tiswadi, Talathi of St Cruz and the panch Rodrigues.
