PANJIM: In a bid to make all 191 village panchayats garbage free, the State has extended its scheme providing grants to tackle the garbage menace by another five years, up to 2023. Interestingly, panchayats in the vicinity of the airport and in the coastal belt will be eligible for supplementary financial assistance of Rs 7 lakh and Rs 5 lakh each, which is in addition to the already allotted grant of Rs 2 lakh.
Also, the 10 best performing panchayats will be awarded Rs 5 lakh, as an incentive for their effective collection and disposal of garbage.
The notification extending the Goa Panchayats (Grants to Tackle Garbage Menace) Scheme till 2023 was issued last week. “The collection and disposal of garbage within the jurisdiction of panchayats needs to be given top priority so as to ensure the protection of the environment and ecosystem,” the notification stated.
Under the scheme, each panchayat is eligible for grants of Rs two lakh for door-to-door collection, segregation and disposal of garbage, including dry plastic garbage within its jurisdiction.
However, all panchayats in the coastal belt and all panchayats with tourism potential, having tourism importance, are eligible for additional financial assistance of Rs 5 lakh each per annum in addition to the allotted funds. There are 28 panchayats identified for these additional grants.
Also five panchayats in the vicinity of the airport that is in the periphery of 12 kms of the airport, are eligible for additional financial assistance of Rs 7 lakh for proper disposal of garbage.
There are another 21 suburban panchayats , near or on the boundaries of Mapusa, Panjim, Margao and Ponda that are provided with an additional grant of Rs five lakh per annum.
All panchayats having weekly markets and all panchayats whose annual income is up to Rs 25 lakh, will be eligible for additional financial assistance of Rs 3 lakh each per annum. There are 102 such panchayats.
