TEAM HERALD
BICHOLIM: The Mayem Gram Sabha on Sunday witnessed noisy scenes over the issue of sale of scrap and it was decided to file an FIR against the present sarpanch and former panchayat secretary.
The villagers sought to know what has been done regarding earlier police complaints about the missing NOCs issued to a mining company. They asked the panchayat secretary to stop the proceedings of the Gram Sabha. However, the villagers were pacified when an assurance was given that another complaint will be registered, giving the name of the then secretary and the panchayat.
A villager, Kashinath Mayekar, through an RTI query had asked for several details including the sale of scrap present with the panchayat. He sought to know how the scrap was sold without permission from the PWD and BDO.
The situation got tense when Mayekar disclosed that a resolution of the sale was taken by the members and name of a pancha was included even when she was not present for the meeting. After much discussion, it was resolved to file an FIR against the then secretary and Sarpanch Veena Chodankar. The RTI also brought forward several queries which Sarpanch Chodankar was unable to answer.
“On several occasions, the minutes of the meeting have not ended, there are no signatures by the secretary and the sarpanch,” said Mayekar. At this, the villagers made the sarpanch agree that she is unaware of the rules and made her to apologise for it.
The issue of cutting of trees near Vijayanand High School also came up for discussion. Several other issues were also discussed during the Gram Sabha.
