Team Herald
PANJIM: The villagers of Sao Mathias Village Panchayat jurisdiction have demanded a full-time secretary and talathi.
According to the villagers, the current Panchayat Secretary J Naik has been promoted as Extension Officer for Panchayats (EOP) and transferred to the Tiswadi Block Development Office (BDO). However, Naik is still holding the charge of the panchayat secretary and visiting the panchayat office every Saturday.
“The non-availability of the panchayat secretary for other days is causing hardships to the people visiting panchayat office for various works,” the villagers said.
When contacted, Sao Mathias Sarpanch Mohan Volvoikar said that though the panchayat secretary has been transferred following his promotion, he was still holding the charge of the secretary and visiting the panchayat office thrice a week.
“The panchayat secretary is available in the office on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday,” he said.
Refusing to accept that the villagers were inconvenienced due to absence of a full-time panchayat secretary, Volvoikar said that no villager has been inconvenienced and that whenever any urgent work is required, he was personally going to the BDO, Panjim to obtain his signature.
