PANJIM: Government interference in panchayat working, non-devolution of powers, financial crunch have not stopped candidates from filing nominations for the June 11 panchayat elections in the State. With still a day to go for filing nominations, over 6000 nominations have already been received by Returning Officers across the State.
The big grouse that is raised at regular intervals by elected ward members is that the Panchayati Raj Act has not been effectively implemented, thus weakening the local body in its dealings with local issues in the village.
“In Goa devolution of powers has not yet taken place as per the spirit of the 73rd Constitutional amendment. The panchayats are currently acting as extension booths of the government and not as local self governments. In many panchayats it is the MLA who is running it by proxy,” Panchayati Raj activist Soter D’Souza said.
Speaking to Herald, Neura Panchayat Sarpanch, Vinod Kamat endorsed the above and said, “These days the government, and not the panchayats, plays an important role in deciding village level politics. There is a lot of government inference.”
Although in Goa panchayat elections are not fought on party lines, political interference in panchayat polls and functioning exists.
An ex-sarpanch said that if Goa wants to fight panchayat elections on party basis, then necessary amendments have to be made to the Panchayati Raj Act. “West Bengal was the first State in India to fight local elections on party lines. But there is a major issue when this happens and that is violence,” he said.
Panchayat activists and others alleged that unofficially the panchayats are run by whichever political party is in power, and rue this as they feel the local governing bodies should be free from direct party politics as this affects village development.
It is not just political interference and powers that have not reached the panchayats, sarpanchas also complain that the government is not regular with disbursing the funds meant for the panchayats or these are directly controlled by the government. “Funds which are meant for the panchayats are not sent regularly. Neura Panchayat has not received proper funds for the last five years,” Kamat said.
The grassroots leaders also allege that funds which are granted to the panchayats are not sufficient for the development works in the village.
“Today there is more government interference in panchayats. In terms of funds sent to panchayats, the amount is insufficient for the development and betterment of the village,” former Sarpanch of Goltim Navelim, Prasad Harmalkar, said.
With panchayat elections days away, villagers this time are hoping that the village bodies are left untouched by government forces which in turn will benefit in the development of the village.
