Team Herald
Panjim: The stink of corruption that has dogged the Sancoale village panchayat for the past many months came into focus yet again on Monday, with two opposition panchayat members and several villagers submitting a memorandum to the Director of Panchayats and accusing the ruling panchayat group of illegalities and mismanagement of public funds.
The memorandum was filed by Panchayat members Tulshidas Naik and Maurelio Carvalho, who claimed that the deputy sarpanch and the gram sevak, acting as the panchayat secretary, were engaged in unlawful practices. The duo said they were prepared to present evidence in court to support their allegations and demanded action.
Naik highlighted that the panchayat had failed to convene a single meeting in the past six months, raising concerns about the lack of transparency. He accused the ruling group of passing significant financial decisions without due process. “A meeting with over 300 agenda points was concluded within three months, and Rs 85 lakh worth of bills were approved in a so-called ‘ghost meeting’ without any discussion or deliberations,” Naik alleged.
He further claimed that an ordinary panchayat meeting had been scheduled for February 18, during which attempts were being made to pass “illegal” bills amounting to Rs 65 lakh without the required tenders or approvals. Naik has requested that the Director of Panchayats intervene to prevent the meeting and direct the Sancoale panchayat to hold previous meetings before proceeding with any new decisions.
In addition, Naik raised concerns over the regular passing of large sums in each meeting, particularly related to garbage collection. He said, "Every meeting sees bills worth Rs 25 lakh being passed for garbage collection, and nearly Rs 1.25 crore worth of bills are being approved, which is against the rules."
Panch Maurelio Carvalho also voiced his concerns, asserting that they had gathered substantial evidence of fraudulent activities carried out by the ruling panchayat members. "We will submit the proof of these illegalities to the court and ensure that those involved in corruption are held accountable," he said.
In response to the allegations, Sancoale Deputy Sarpanch Derrick Vales denied the accusations, claiming that all bills had been thoroughly discussed and passed during meetings. "What the two panchayat members are claiming is false. We are paying Rs 15 lakh, not Rs 25 lakh, to the contractor for garbage collection. We don’t approve any bills without including them in the agenda," Vales stated.
He also explained that although there had been a delay in holding the ordinary meetings, the bills for the lawyers' services had been sent to the government for approval. "For the last three-and-a-half months, an ordinary meeting was not held, but everything has been done in accordance with the rules," Vales added.
‘Irregular’ lawyer fees flagged off in audit report last year
Panjim: The Sancoale panchayat had been in the eye of a storm in November last year, when an audit report has revealed that the Panchayat paid close to Rs 10 lakh as legal fees to Advocate Zeller C De Sousa with no financial approvals or an agreement of engagement, either on a retainership or a case-to-case basis.
The audit has observed that the panchayat paid Rs 9,55,550 to Adv De Sousa for representing five cases during the last financial year. The auditor further objected that there was no agreement between the Sancoale Village Panchayat and the lawyer and the panchayat had not attained final approved for paying the amount.
The amount was released to the lawyer without proper bills while the reason for releasing the payment without financial approval and not executing an agreement has not been replied to, by the village panchayat, stated the audit report.