Team Herald
MARGAO: The Directorate of Panchayats is considering a proposal to have only one committee in a village that will look after planning and development, including getting funds for the various projects, instead of the several committees that the panchayats are currently supposed to constitute.
When asked on the role of the ward development committee along with the village development committee, Panchayat Director Sandhya Kamat said the department was seriously considering making it mandatory for the panchayats to have only one committee.
It may be recalled that as per the Panchayati Raj Act, the village panchayat had to constitute three standing committees – production committee, social justice committee and amenities committee. Besides they could constitute two supervisory committees and two ward development committees.
Many panchayats constituted the supervisory committee to manage garbage in the village and other important issues, like Guirdolim panchayat that constituted the spring development committee. Most panchayats constituted only one ward development committee that would plan the projects required in the village and submit its report to the sarpanch and the Gram Sabha.
However, about two years ago, funds were made available for panchayats under the 14th Finance Commission and to get these funds a pre-requisite was the panchayat constituting the village development committee that would prepare a development plan for the village minutely, even giving the estimated cost of the work.
Based on this plan, the Centre would directly sanction funds to the panchayat under the Commission and Goa Institute of Public Administration and Rural Development had prepared plans to get all the villages to prepare this plan. However, the plans could be prepared only in few villages.
Now that the new panchayat bodies are elected and the committees are being constituted at the gram sabhas, both the Block Development Officers in Salcete have advised the panchayats to constitute a separate ward development committee for each ward in the village.
In any case members of the various committees including the ward development committee are also members of the village development committee. Panchayat Director also emphasised the need and importance of the village development committee specially to implement Swachh Bharat programmes in the village by maintaining cleanliness, dealing with garbage and providing sanitation facilities to the inhabitants.
“Since there is overlapping of the work done by the various committees, we are seriously considering asking the panchayats to constitute only one committee that will assist the panchayat in all aspects,” she said.
