MARGAO: Raia Sarpanch Isidore Rodrigues came under heavy fire at the gram sabha for placing the panchayat’s budget two months late. He was forced to adjourn the session as the members rejected the budget by refusing to propose or second it.
Irate farmers accused him of being hand-in-gloves with the management of V M Salgaonkar College, which is allegedly built on agricultural land and has many discrepancies in its documentation. The locals also alleged that the college is built in violation of several rules.
The audit report tabled on Sunday pointed out the failure of the panchayat to recover huge amounts of deferred taxes.
Raia resident Anthony Fernandes alleged that the sarpanch, panchs and a few others were bribed heavily to give the college a free pass and were evading action over the illegality. Anthony said, “The sewage from the college complex is released in the adjoining field, which has resulted in farmers quitting their profession.” He added that the college complex had several blocks, but tax was collected as if it was one building, which resulted in heavy losses to the panchayat.
Some farmers also criticized the panchayat for not releasing the funds allocated for development of agriculture. They demanded that the panchayat increase the allocation so that land acquisitions and facilities to procure get enough funding.
The villagers resolved several important issues like increase in grants to sports, vigilance enquiry in the various works of the contractors, among others. In the end, the whole exercise was defeated with the adjournment of the gram sabha.
