The highly anticipated South Goa District Planning Committee (DPC) meeting encountered postponement attributed to the absence of a quorum. Only 13 members were present for the meeting.
DPC is constitutionally-mandated to meet every year in order to consolidate the plans into a draft-district development plan and submit the draft to the government for allocation of funds.
Suvarna Subodh Prabhu Tendulkar, Chairperson of the South Goa Zilla Panchayat, highlighted the significance of the first DPC meeting convened since assuming office in 2021. She expressed concern over the delay in receiving plans from the 36 panchayats and 8 municipalities, stressing the collaborative nature required for DPC planning.
Tendulkar emphasized the necessity of collective input from all panchayats and municipalities, stating that the Zilla Panchayat couldn’t formulate the DPC plan in isolation. Despite earlier requests, plans from these entities had not been forthcoming, prompting renewed appeals for their submission.
To address this, Tendulkar reiterated the call for the remaining panchayats and municipalities to submit their plans by December 31st. Highlighting the urgency of the situation, she emphasized that the Zilla Panchayat would proceed with the received plans by the stipulated deadline.
The DPC had sent invitations to the 20 MLAs from South Goa, some of whom are Ministers, besides the MPs, chairpersons of Municipal Councils and other members of the panel to attend meeting on Wednesday at Mathany Saldanha Complex, Margao.
