TEAM HERALD
MARGAO: Commotion rent the air at the Curtorim gram sabha held on Sunday presided by sarpanch Valentina Braganza over the issue of a panch allegedly alleging on social media, Facebook that panchas in village were corrupt by accepting bribes.
Gram sabha members questioned panch Diniz Sardinha for making the allegation on the Facebook that panchas were corrupt, even as Sardinha stuck to his statement. After much discussion on the issue, the sarpanch promised to inquire in the allegation made by Sardinha.
Charles Baretto and Vivek Naik alleged that licence was issued to Nilesh Naik to put up a shed opposite Goa Oxygen Factory, Curtorim by bending rules, while deputy Sarpanch Santan Rodrigues justified that licence had been issued by following proper procedure and Rs 20,000 collected as tax. The deputy sarpanch also informed gram sabha that the shed is used to store material for a government project which is public interest. However, Barreto alleged that the tax collected should have been one month rent collected by the owner which is Rs 50,000 and not the amount collected. Collection of garbage carried by the panchayat on Gandhi Jayanti Day, October 2 came under criticism with villagers demanding to know how the Panchayat had disposed of the waste.
Deputy sarpanch Rodrigues informed that the garbage was handed over to Curtorim Union, which disposed it to a contractor in Karnataka. However, Barreto, a villager questioned as to why the garbage had not been handed to a government approved agency, seeking to know whether the Curtorim Union is a consultant agency for garbage collection. Resolution was taken that garbage collected shall not be stored in residential areas and if stored locals should be taken in confidence.
