ZP member Maria Rebello, who had submitted the forms, rushed to the district collectorate office along with Benaulim panch members Menino de Bandar and David Fernandes. They were later joined by former MLA Churchill Alemao.

The civil supplies department calmed their fears by making it clear to them and the applicants that none of the forms had been rejected. They stated that the forms would first be scrutinized, and only if they did not fulfill the criteria would they be rejected.

It was further revealed that one Nilesh Prabhudesai had taken away the forms on the grounds that they were likely to be rejected due to some error in filling them up, and that the message sent to the villagers was to get them to fill the correct forms at the fair price shop from Thursday onwards.

However, Rebello questioned the logic and pointed out that 800 forms had been registered by her and submitted to the office. She also said there was no question of the forms getting rejected as the scrutiny process, which had to be done first, would take months to complete.

While Alemao demanded action, Rebello blamed politicians for creating the controversy.

However, Benaulim MLA Caitu Silva denied all allegations and said he had nothing to do with the same.