PANJIM: The Sao Matias gram sabha on Sunday demanded that the 108 ambulance be permanently deployed for the islanders round-the-clock and opposed the sudden deploying the ambulance to other areas. The members also discussed house tax, garbage tax and ferryboat services.
During the gram sabha, it was brought to the notice of the panchayat that the only one ambulance deployed in the area is often also called by the Goa Medical College and Hospital (GMCH), Bambolim for attending patients somewhere else. The villagers complained that the absence of an ambulance they could not shift a 74-year-old patient to the hospital and by the time the ambulance arrived the septuagenarian died on the way to the hospital.
When the agenda was put forth, one of the members of the gram sabha questioned the outstanding taxes collected by the panchayat during the current financial year.
Responding to the question, the panchayat secretary said for house taxes the outstanding amount of taxes is Rs two lakh and professional tax is three lakh. He informed the gram sabha that the village panchayat has decided to revise the taxes.
To this, another member of the sabha asked the panchayat to first collect the outstanding dues and go for revision of the taxes later. The member also suggested the village panchayat to appoint an agency to collect the taxes properly and have an account of it.
“Presently the decision is taken entirely by the panchayat which collects taxes as per its choice. The agency will decide the rate of taxes according to the size of any house,” the member said.
