MARGAO
Panchayat Director Ajit Panchwadkar maintained stoic silence on the clamour for devolution of powers under the 73rd Constitutional Amendment as the State commemorated Panchayati Raj Diwas to mark 25 years of the constitutional amendment with a host of programs including Bal gram sabhas, special gram sabhas and launching of projects at the grassroots local self government bodies.
Besides the elected panchayat members, former Chief Minister and Navelim MLA Luizinho Faleiro joined the bandwagon for devolution of more powers, including financial powers to realise the dream of the Father of the Nation, Mahatma Gandhi, and former Prime Minister, late Rajiv Gandhi.
The Panchayat Director, who joined the Navelim Panchayat members, local MLA Luizinho Faleiro and citizens to launch the wi-fi services at the Navelim Panchayat, only extended his best wishes to the Panchayat members on the occasion of Panchayati Raj Diwas. “Happy Panchayat Day to all of you. Somewhere, we have made a beginning and we have to take it forward. We have to take the 73rd Amendment to its true spirit and reach our goal,” he said.
Faleiro pointed out that it is the government’s duty and responsibility to empower the panchayat bodies to realise the dream of the 73rd Amendment. “We have to decentralize power and send it back to the panchayats to manage their finances. During my stint as Chief Minister I had taken the decision to send the powers back to the village to manage the health centres, primary school, minor irrigation and electrification schemes,” Faleiro said.
The Navelim panchayat, which had earned the distinction of being the first panchayat to start on-line tax collection on Tuesday, launched a wi-fi project, with local MLA urging the panchayat director to provide funds to cover the entire Navelim constituency with the facility. On the occasion, special gram sabhas and bal gram sabhas were held across the panchayats in Salcete, even though the participation at these events was dismal.
