QUEPEM: In the absence of the sarpanch Chinmayi Naik, Deputy Sarpanch Nitesh Bhandari who chaired the gram sabha on Sunday could not give satisfactory answers to various questions asked by the villagers concerning their welfare.
Villagers raised various issues pertaining to their welfare like heavy traffic plying through the village, outdated and discriminatory widow practices adhered to in the village and even funds allegedly collected by the panchayat from industries under Corporate Social Responsibility.
Gram Sabha member Sanket Bhandari while pointing out that industries are required to invest at least 2 per cent of their earnings as CSR for the welfare of society, sought to know how much money the panchayat has received under this head.
He argued that since most of the industries operating in the village are polluting by nature, the least they could do was conduct health camps, which unfortunately has not happened.
However Nitesh Bhandari who was in the chair could not give any answers and said that the panchayat has received donations from the companies but could not even tell how much amount has been received.
Sanket Bhandari also proposed a motion to abolish the discriminatory “widow practices” followed in the village. He pointed out that in modern times when women have become independent, adhering to these age old practices is unwarranted and demanded that they be abolished forthwith.
Following his impassioned plea, the villagers gathered unanimously resolved to abolish widow practices in the village henceforth.
Another villager Swapnil Bhandari raised the issue of heavy trucks with ten tyres plying through their village without care or concern to the local population.
He said many of these vehicles with Karnataka and Maharashtra registration are overloaded and driven in a rash and negligent manner thereby posing a severe threat to the locals.
Another villager Shyam Bhandari raised the issue of safety near the temporary fish market where risk of accidents looms large due to traffic congestion and also regretted that the panchayat has not taken any steps to rebuild the bus stop shelter at Dhadem that had collapsed four months ago.
The deputy sarpanch assured Swapnil Bhandari and Shyam Bhandari that the panchayat would act on their suggestions within 15 days.
