As soon as Deputy Sarpanch Jose Marie Furtado started the meeting, member Sheela Gracious sought to know the nature of the sarpanch’s leave, whether she had intimated the panchayat secretary, and whether the Block Development Officer (BDO) had approved of the leave application.
Panchayat secretary Kiran Mesta informed that the sarpanch had submitted an application for a sick leave to the deputy sarpanch, who then forwarded it the BDO. However, no medical certificate had been attached.
Within a few minutes, the meeting hall turned into a virtual battlefield. The other gram sabha members joined Gracious in grilling the deputy sarpanch and even expressed their lack of confidence in him.
They also accused the panchayat of taking the villagers for granted and claimed that the sarpanch had taken a leave to avoid criticism from the villagers, which proved that she was unfit for the post.
“As we have lost faith in our deputy sarpanch, one of the gram sabha members should be selected to chair the meeting,” said Gracious.
While a few members wanted the deputy sarpanch to chair the meet, the rest stuck to their demand that a gram sabha member take over. However, the secretary pointed out that there was no such provision under the law. After debating this issue for over 30 minutes, the deputy sarpanch adjourned the gram sabha.
“The sarpanch was absent for the last gram sabha on June 21, just as she is now. She is taking the villagers for granted, but we will not allow this to go on. She should chair the next meet or else more chaos will prevail,” warned member Ashley Fernandes.
Meanwhile, refuting the allegations levelled by the gram sabha members, Deputy Sarpanch Furtado said that the demand for a villager to chair the meet was not as per the law.
