HUNGRY FOR POWER
South Zilla members serve deadline over devolution of power, threaten hunger strike
HERALD REPORTER
MARGAO, MAY 26
Cutting across party lines, Members of the South Goa Zilla Panchayat has served a six-month deadline on the Goa Government to devolve powers and functions to the district panchayat bodies or threatened to go on a hunger strike.
That’s not all. The ZP members have clamoured for a hike in salaries and a pension scheme, besides petrol allowance similar to the perks enjoyed by the Members of the Legislative Assembly.
At the ZP meeting held on Wednesday, the district Panchayat body also adopted a resolution seeking the intervention of UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi to direct the Congress Government in the State to bestow powers to the Zilla panchayats as enshrined in the Constitution.
Members pointed out that the Congress is ruling at the Centre and in Goa and hence called for devolution of the powers and function to the Zilla Panchayats.
Critical of the repeated cold shoulder by successive Governments in giving them powers under the 73rd Amendment to the Constitution, the ZP members agreed to brace up to launch a movement in support of their long-pending demand.
In fact, members, especially those having allegiance to the Congress, were told by their colleagues, to prepare to act independently in the event the State Government ignores their claim for additional powers.
ZP Chairperson Maria Rebello said the ZP meeting also decided to invite Rajya Sabha MP Shantaram Naik and Panchayat Minister Babu Azgaonkar in the first week of June to the ZP office and hear the grievances of the members. She pointed out that the Rajya Sabha MP was the lone leader who had communicated to the ZP body, congratulating the new members after wining the elections.
ZP Member Pradeep Desai, who has sent a memorandum to the Congress President Sonia Gandhi on the inordinate delay by the Congress Government in Goa to devolve powers to the district Panchayat bodies, said the ZP members would not have any option than to resort to hunger strike in the Capital city.
Members pointed out that the MLAs and MPs had recently got a big hike in their monthly salaries and demanded to know why similar hike should not be given to the ZP members, whose constituency comprises of five or more panchayats. In this connection, another member demanded that the Government should sanction minimum 50 litres petrol to each of the ZP members to move around the constituency.
Colva ZP member Nelly Rodrigues said the ZP Chairperson should do the follow up with the Government-appointed committee on the devolution of powers to the ZP bodies.
Today’s meeting also deliberated on the question of utilizing the administrative funds for the creation of assets in the ZP constituencies such as on electric fixtures and waste composting etc.
