Team Herald
VASCO: The residents of Cansaulim-Arossim-Cuelim are angry with the sarpanch after she conveyed her inability to attend the gram sabha on September 27. This is the second time the sarpanch would skip the meeting since she took over the post in May.
“I accept that I skipped the last gram sabha due to personal reasons. This time I am not well, and thus, cannot chair the meet,” stated Sarpanch Filomena D’Mello. However, the villagers alleged that she did not want to face the people. Anthony Vaz, a local, stated, “If she is sick, how is that she is still teaching at the kindergarten in our village? If she does not want to chair a single gram sabha, then she should not have taken this important post. Her absence makes us suspect that something fishy is going on in the panchayat.”
Annarita Fernandes, a resident of Tontem Morod, Cansaulim, shared Anthony’s views. She stated, “Gram sabhas are an important provision for the people. The sarpanch’s act of remaining absent smacks of an attempt to cover up misdeeds and to avoid answering the villagers of Cansaulim-Arossim-Cuelim.”
At the last gram sabha, a villager Sheela Gracias had demanded that the sarpanch furnish a medical certificate. She stated, “It is not a healthy practice. We have several important issues to discuss; the main issue is about a hotel project in our village. However, she remains absent despite being the head of our village.”
