MARGAO, JAN 30
The Loutolim gram sabha on Sunday has reiterated its demand for imposing of trade tax on industries set up in the Verna Industrial estate in the jurisdiction of the village Panchayat.
At the meeting held on Sunday, members urged the village Sarpanch to pursue the matter with the concerned authorities, saying that no revenue has come to the Panchayat from multi national companies since they being operations in the Estate long ago.
Gram Sabha members were upset when the Sarpanch informed that the Panchayat never discussed the stand to be taken by the Panchayat when cases filed against the Panchayats were placed before the body and no terms and conditions with advocates were in place when handing over cases against Panchayats to advocates representing the Panchayat. After much discussions, the The Gram sabha asked the panchayat body henceforth to take a defensive stand on appeals filed against Panchayat show cause notices and stop work orders and set out a condition to the advocates that if any case against the panchayat is decided ex parte for non appearance of panchayat advocate, the advocates should pay a minimum penalty of Rs. 50,000 to the panchayat.
The Gram Sabha grilled the Sarpanch on a house number allotted to a shipyard in 2005 when the house no. 40 was already existing in panchayat records in the name of St. Joseph Chapel, Rassaim. The Gram Sabha also demanded to know how house no. 40 which was first issued at the time of assessment of house tax in the seventies could be issued by the Panchayat in 2005 to the shipyard.
Moreover, members pointed out that the shipyard is not even situated in the vicinity of the chapel and could have been allotted house no 40/A as per rule only if it was situated adjacent to the chapel and if it had approvals from competent authorities. The Gram Sabha unanimously resolved to revoke house no. 40 issued to shipyard and initiate steps to demolish the illegal structure. The Gram Sabha also directed the Sarpanch to verify which Sarpanch had issued the illegal house no. and demand for an official departmental inquiry and accountability against the said Sarpanch.
