TEAM HERALD
PANJIM: Council for Social Justice and Peace (CSJP) has objected to the government’s decision to hold Panchayati Raj Institution elections on party lines and endorsed views of both the north and south Goa zilla panchayats.
The Council has also asked for the government to ‘see reason’ and immediately withdraw the Ordinance and allow elections to panchayat bodies on non-partisan lines, since parties are the main cause of division and instability at the local level.
“Most of the division and lawlessness in the villages is believed to be at the behest of MLAs and political parties for their vested interests. The injection of political parties in panchayats is a sure recipe for destroying grassroots democracy, prompting a breakdown in law and order and disruption of peace in villages. Local governance institutions should not be compromised to facilitate the ‘Booth Pravasi’ agendas of political parties,” it alleged.
The CSJP also condemned the use of Ordinances to get these decisions implemented.
“The abuse of Constitutional provisions for issuing Ordinances by governments to bypass the people’s representatives and public, to prevent debates on very important laws and policies, both at the Union and State levels is deplorable and worrisome in a democracy,” said the CSJP representation to the chief minister and the panchayat minister.
The Council also felt that the government’s justification that elections to panchayat bodies in many States are on party lines “is lame”, since these are huge, with one district as large as the entire State of Goa. Since the literacy level in Goa is one of the highest in the country, people can manage their own affairs at the grassroots level without interference from political parties, the representation by the executive director and Fr Savio Fernandes, executive secretary, CSJP and Soter D’ Souza, executive coordinator, department of governance, CSJP said.
The Council also rubbished the government’s claim that political parties in panchayat bodies will help to ensure stability and consistency in implementation of development programmes.
