Salcete witnessed an uproar on Wednesday over the ward reservation finalised by the authorities with Carmona sSarpanch questioning the reservation of two wards as OBC category wards when there’s hardly any population of the community in these two wards.
the goan I network
MARGAO
While lodging her strong objection to the reservation of ward No 3 and 4 as OBC reserved wards, Sarpanch Sandra Fernandes, in her memorandum to the panchayat director, pointed out that the total population of Carmona as per the 2011 census stands at 3864 out of which 3665 belongs to the general category and 166 are declared as belonging to the OBC category.
She said that ward No 3 has a population 897 voters, of which 838 voters are declared as general category and only 54 are declared as OBC, which is just 6 per cent of the population. Five voters are declared as SC, around 0.55 per cent to be precise.
Saying that the figures of OBC and SC in this ward are false and untrustworthy, the Sarpanch said “as per our knowledge, there is only one SC family in Carmona village and that family resides in Ward No 5 and not 3. Also, it is to be noted that in Ward No 3, there are a few Kunbi/Gawda families residing, which are to be classified as ST category, but in the statistics of 2011 census, Ward No 3 does not show any ST category at all.”
As far as Ward No 4 is concerned, the Sarpanch informed that there are a total of 545 voters, of which the OBC voters declared as only 38, which is six per cent of the total population.
Goa Velha, Batim & Carambolim not happy
AGASSAIM: People from Goa Velha, Carambolim and Batim villages have expressed unhappiness over the reservation policy for the forthcoming panchayat elections.
The reservation to different seats in panchayats, which were announced on Tuesday, have evoked angry reactions, with many people claiming that the government had not taken the people into account before announcing the reservations.
Added Carambolim ex-sarpanch, Bhalchandra Usgaokar, “We don’t even have time to express our anger as filing of nomination will start from Thursday.”
Batim Deputy Sarpanch Digambar Kavlekar also had similar objections.
Penha-da-Franca panchas irked
PORVORIM: The splitting of family members into different wards and other grievances has caused resentment among many panch members of Penha-da-Franca over the delimitation of Wards 8 to 11 on Porvorim plateau.
“The areas of Vidhyanagar, P&T colony, Saldana colony, Customs colony, government quarters were then part of Ward 10, they are not so now,” said Sarpanch Visranti Dessai.
“During this election, the area of Vidhayanagar has surprisingly been detached from Ward 10 and attached to Ward 11, while the Housing Board area of Ward 8 has been included in Ward 10.”
“Members of same family have been included in different wards. The father and daughter from Custom colony have been included in Ward 10, while the mother and son are in Ward 11,” he said. TGN
Betalbatim demands re-think
MARGAO: Resentment is brewing in Betalbatim over the decision of the panchayat authorities to reserve three out of the total seven wards for the OBC category.
The decision to notify ward No 3, 5 and 7 of the Betalbatim Panchayat for the OBC category has raised a hornet’s nest in the village, with ex-deputy Sarpanch and panch member Anthony Fernandes along with two others moving the panchayat director for reconsideration of the decision.
Nuvem MLA Wilfred D’Sa has also joined the chorus of opposition to the ward reservation as he accompanied Anthony and others to the office of the panchayat director
on Wednesday to lodge their objections.
