PANJIM: The Directorate of Panchayat has found procedural lapses in the working of Aldona village panchayat and warned its sarpanch and the secretary not to repeat them in future and show improvement.
In a memo issued to Aldona village panchayat secretary Navanya Goltekar and sarpanch Ashwin De Souza, the Director of Panchayat Siddhi Halarnkar has said that in future no further excuse will be entertained and action deemed fit will be taken against them if any lapses are found.
One Devidas Gopinath Panjikar had on February 6, 2023, filed a complaint alleging misappropriation of panchayat funds and mismatch of the records of the payment of daily wage workers engaged for bush cutting.
Acting upon the complaint, the Directorate of Vigilance conducted site inspection on March 28, 2023, and during the inspection it was noticed that there were negligence or irregularities on the part of the panchayat secretary and the sarpanch of Aldona village panchayat.
The Directorate of Vigilance found that no tendering was done and there were procedural lapses with respect to maintenance of muster rolls etc. The Director of Vigilance submitted its report to the Directorate of Panchayat.
Following this, the Directorate of Panchayat issued show cause notices to the Aldona sarpanch and the panchayat secretary seeking their explanation.
Though the sarpanch and the panchayat secretary submitted their replies, the Directorate of Panchayat, after going through their replies, observed that there were procedural lapses with respect to maintenance of muster roll.
“Since this act of the Secretary and Sarpanch cannot be termed as misappropriation of funds and considering the urgency of the persist during which bus clearing was undertaken, a sympathetic approach has been undertaken and therefore Village Panchayat Secretary and Sarpanch are warned not to repeat the procedural lapses,” Director of Panchayat Siddhi Halarnkar said.
