TEAM HERALD
teamherald@herald-goa.com
PANJIM: The government will start a special common cadre for the posts of panchayat secretaries in a bid to facilitate transfers as well as fill up vacancies of these crucial posts in panchayats. Announcing this, Minister for Panchayats Laxmikant Parsekar said that through the creation of this cadre, filling up of posts would also be easier while responding to concerns raised by the Opposition and ruling MLAs that the panchayat secretaries holding double and triple charge was burdening not only them, but also affecting the functioning of the panchayat.
“The government has taken a decision to institute a common cadre for panchayat secretaries. It will be easier for transfers,” Parsekar opined.
Opposition MLA Aleixo Reginaldo Lourenco had raised the issue of transfer of panchayat secretaries to far off areas, which he said in some cases was political. He also said that transfers of corrupt secretaries would not solve the problem, since the same corruption would shift to a different location.
Parsekar however said that some of the secretaries get bored working in the same place and that it would be best to transfer them once the cadre is started.
Parsekar also promised to advertise the posts of 32 village panchayat secretaries in a bid to fill up the shortfall. “We have got sanction from the finance and other departments for these 32 posts. Once these are filled, each panchayat will get a full time secretary,” Parsekar disclosed.
The panchayat minister, in his same reply to the discussion on demands for grants for the directorate of panchayats reiterated his earlier commitment to revoke the waiver of house tax to all inhabitants of villages, except for those living Below the Poverty Line.
Parsekar revealed that there were around 34,439 families living below the poverty line and the waiver would now stand to benefit these people.
