Team Herald
PORVORIM: Panchayats Minister Mauvin Godinho on Wednesday told the House that the government will implement the common cadre for panchayat staff in the State. The Minister further said that a policy is being formulated to ensure frequent transfers of panchayat secretaries to reduce corruption in local bodies.
“We are in the process of creating a common cadre for the panchayat staff. The process is on and in an advanced stage and with the Law Department and I want everyone to support it,” Godinho told the State Legislative Assembly.
The minister also said that the he will move a proposal to the government for henceforth making construction of illegal houses a cognizable offence. “Let the houses which are already there be regularised. I will bring an amendment to the Act and make all illegal constructions henceforth a cognizable offence,” he stated.
Godinho also tore into the opposition for claiming no funds were granted to panchayats to carry out development works giving statistical evidence of them not utilising allotted funds. “At the outset let me tell that the 191 panchayats across the State have not been utilising the allotted funds to them”, Godinho said.
He stated that under the 14th Finance Commission the panchayats have been allotted an amount of Rs 37 cr. “…but the irony is that out of this Rs 37 cr, the amount utilised is below Rs 6 cr. Same is the story about the 13th and the 12th Finance Commission,” he said.
“Another example, GIA grants sanctioned for the year 2017-18 were Rs 9.92 cr but out of this only Rs 1.87 cr has been utilised,” he said, adding, “Same with the Golden Jubilee grants Rs 2.56 cr has remained unutilised.”
“You say government does not give money or more powers to panchyats. So many activists also call me to say that but are the panchayats willing to take up works?” he said.
The minister said that under the Swacch Bharat cleanliness initiative the government has increased the waste management grants of all panchayats under three categories.
“Firstly, all 12 panchayats in the 12-km vicinity of airport get a grant of Rs 9 lakh so that waste is managed properly and there should not be any bird hit incident at the airport,” he said.
Similarly, he continued, Rs 7 lakh grant is given to panchayats where there are big markets and revenue generation is more. “In the third category we have taken poor panchayats and give them a grant of Rs 5 lakh for collection and scientific management of the waste,” he said.
Besides, he said, the development funds for zilla panchayat members has been increased to Rs 50 lakh from Rs 10 lakh.
Godinho also said that the panchayts have become so lethargic that they are not even collecting the house tax properly.
