Herald: Do you think the government is giving enough support to the panchayats?
Joseph Sequeira: There is absolutely no support from the government to the panchayats be it in collection of garbage, development or in terms of funds; we have to fight for everything.
Herald: Can you please explain?
Sequeira: There are different kinds of funding we get from the government but at times they do not come for years. Grants of garbage is just Rs 1 lakh per year can you believe we are paying Rs 7 lakh a month? For Calangute panchayat itself the government has to pay over Rs 2 crore. We have written a letter but to no avail. The grants are not given only. We have to move courts as we are now filing a case in the High Court.
This hampers development. In Calangute we have our tax collection but for other panchayats it is very difficult. We have put up a lot of proposals to the state government but they were never looked into.
Herald: Are enough powers given to panchayats under 73rd and 74thamendment to the Constitution?
Sequeira: Well, the government is just not even ready to give us powers under 73rd and 74th amendment to the Constitution. All the powers are vested upon the Secretary of the panchayat, who danced to the tunes of politicians. The panchayat body and the sarpanch is just the rubber stamp.
Herald: One issue discussed throughout in Goa is of illegal constructions. Are panchayats not responsible for the illegal constructions in their jurisdictions?
Sequeira: Absolutely not. The panchayats have absolutely no power. If we have a complaint of illegal construction we have to do a site inspection and process starts and if any order is passed it is challenged in Director of Panchayats where stay is granted and thus it becomes a long process. Sometimes the politicians get involved and the issue is held up. Many a time the electricity and water connections are given without permissions. But what happens is the blame comes on panchayats.
Herald: So you mean to say panchayats have no role to play except for site inspection?
Sequeira: At times we do issue orders for demolition but we do not get enough support from police and other authorities as they say ‘you are not the authority.’ So we have to go through the Dy Director and the BDO.
I hold the Dy Director of panchayats and BDOs responsible for illegal constructions for not giving powers to the panchayats to conduct demolitions.
If there were enough powers the sarpanch could have been held responsible and disqualified under Section 50 for not taking corrective measures.
Herald: Of late the Gram sabhas have been stormy, especially in South over major projects, what do you have to say on that?
Sequeira: In some villages politicians plant their workers to create a ruckus. If you know to conduct the gram sabha well then there is no issue. The panchayat needs to have the answers ready. There are some demands of people that can never be met, like if a matter is in High Court it can never be discussed.
Herald: Why has there been an opposition to mobile towers in every panchayat?
Sequeira: Mobile towers have to be opposed as people say it is harmful to health due to radiations but at times the panchayat director passes orders to give permission to mobile towers. For example in my panchayat jurisdiction they asked permission to erect towers but people opposed the move so nothing can be done against people’s wishes.
