31st August 2008
Benaulim Villagers’ Action Committee strongly condemns the insults by the Panchayati Raj Minister, Shri Manohar Azgaonkar in the newspapers today as they are anti-people and fabricated lies, to suit the corrupt.
Mr. Azgaonkar will do well to explain the action of Panchayat Secretaries, who mysteriously go on sick leave on the eve of the Gram Sabhas and are subsequently seen attending duty at the Block Develoment Office [BDO] in the respective taluka HQ. He should explain to the people as to what action he has taken on the Panchayat Secretary, Mr. Subodh Prabhu, who deliberately sat on a construction proposal file, attended hearings and pronouncement of orders in the Office of the Dy. Director of Panchayats and kept the Panchayat in the dark about it, thereby facilitating the builder to get construction license under the ‘deeming’ clause which is abuse of office.
The Benaulim villagers have been peacefully agitating for their rights for the past five months. The BVAC and the people of Benaulim are demanding revocation of construction licenses through proper procedure based on gross irregularities, misrepresentation of facts and encroachment on public property. We challenge Mr. Azgaonkar to substantiate his statement regarding harassment to any of the Panchayat staff by holding a people’s darbar at the Panchayat Ghar or convening a special Gram Sabha meeting through the Panchayat. We promise to provide evidence wherein one of the Panchayat Staff has confessed to pressure from the higher authorities to give false statements/reports against the villagers of Benaulim.
If Mr. Azgaonkar is so clean and sincere on development, he should provide a honest, full-time Panchayat Secretary to Benaulim as a first step. Due action should be imitated against the Panchayat Body, which has consistently failed to hold Gram Sabha meetings as required under the law. Action must also be initiated on the Sarpanch of Benaulim who is yet to conduct a single Fortnightly meeting of the Panchayat Body from the time she was elected as Sarpanch, in contravention of the law. The Panchayat Minister must initiate action against the Director of Panchayats , Deputy Director of Panchayats-South and the BDO of Salcette, who have been sitting on a petition filed on May 12, 2008 under Section 200 of the Panchayati Raj Act, 1994 for dissolution of the Panchayat on grounds of persistent default in the performance of duties.
We also challenge Mr. Azgaonkar and the Chief Minister (who is on record stating that licenses can be revoked if construction rules and regulations are found to be violated) to visit Benaulim with his team from the Town & Country Planning Dept., PWD, BDO, the Directorate of Panchayats and the Dy. Collector. The villagers will be too happy to point out the violations and illegalities to the authorities and to the media. Let the whole world know. We challenge the authorities to take action on the acts of omission & commission committed by the authorities, including the Panchayat Body.
In Benaulim, the carpenter does not impart climbing techniques to the toddy tapper, the fisherman will never attempt to teach the mason to mix cement, the advocate never dreams of preaching on the pulpit and the visiting cobbler will stick to mending the shoes. The list is endless. In short they don’t preach what they don’t comprehend. They practice what they know. We suggest the Panchayat Minister does the same.
Seby Fernandes
(BVAC Convenor)
Related stories on this: click colored words for hyperlinks below
Azgaonkars' statement in herald
Azgaonkar's statement in navhind times
Benaulim Police presence in navhind times
Benaulim Police presence in herald
News of Gram Sabha being called off
Panchayat body playing truant on August 31 Gram Sabha
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