PORVORIM: The Members of the Legislative Assembly have unanimously demanded that secretaries in village panchayats should be transferred every five years, while maintaining that secretaries and talathis should be made available on a full-time basis.
Some secretaries have been misusing power and harassing people for issuing NOC to construct houses and I demand that secretary should not be kept in one panchayat for more than five years. The secretaries are not behaving well and not listening to the sarpanches, Benaulim MLA Churchill Alemao said.
Tivim MLA Nilkanth Haldankar also said that panchayat secretaries were acting like the Sarpanch’s boss and demanded that an inquiry on secretaries.
Meanwhile, MLA Prasad Goankar demanded secretaries and talathis should be retained on full-time basis.
The Canacona MLA Isidore Fernandes demanded that maximum power should be given to the sarpanches and as the secretaries make things difficult for the people.
Today it is seen that secretaries control panchayats, as they are there for many years and I demand that they should be rotated taluka-wise. Sarpanches have become tools and everything is controlled by the secretaries, Fernandes said.
Meanwhile, Cortalim MLA Alina Saldanha and MLA Prasad Goankar also demanded a training programme for all newly-elected panchayat representatives.
“In the recent elections most of the panch members and sarpanches are first-timers and due to this a training programme should be organised, as it will help them know the various rules and also to understand the Panchayat Raj Act,” Alinha said.
Meanwhile, most MLAs also demanded that the financial grants be increased for village panchayats and the Zilla Parishads and also increase the salaries of panchas and sarpanches.
