The Works

| 2002 |

Three panchayats in Pernem catch poll fever

The general panchayat elections may have been conducted in January, but for three small panchayats in remote parts of Pernem taluka, election fever is about to begin.

Elections to the three five-member panchayats of Alorna, Kansarvarnem and Chandel-Hassapur will now be conducted on November 17, as they were among the only four panchayats of a total of 189-odd panchayats which missed the January 20 polls.

It may be noted that the Sanquelim panchayat also did not go to polls, as its elections were conducted one year ago, when the Sanquelim municipality was reverted to a panchayat.

Located in the remote area of Dhargalim constituency, the three panchayats are scheduled to complete their five-year term only next month.

The unusual situation stems from the fact that in 1997, the panchayats of Kansarvarnem and Chandel-Hassapur were bifurcated to create the third panchayat of Alorna.

Elections were held subsequently in November 1997, 10 months after the general panchayats elections in the state, to elect members to the three panchayats.

As the tenure of the village panchayats of Kasarwarne, Alorna and Chandel-Hassapur ends in November, new aspirants are busy gearing up to displace the present members of the panchayats in forthcoming panchayat elections, expected to be conducted next month.

A total of 3,517 voters are spread over the three panchayats of Kasarwarne (826), Alorna (1,296) and Chandel-Hassapur (1,396).

At present, work of preparing a new voter list is in progress on a war footing level at the Pernem Mamlatdar office.

Political leaders from these panchayats are preparing for the forthcoming panchayat elections, with present MLA and Panchayat Minister Babu Azgaonkar expected to play a crucial role, as these panchayats cover an influential part of Dhargalim constituency.

When contacted, Director of Panchayats P M Borkar admitted that the situation was peculiar for the three panchayats of Alorna, Kansarvarnem and Chandel-Hassapur.

“The department was keen that elections to the three panchayats were to be held along with the other panchayats in the state,” explained Borkar.

“However,” he added, “the constitution as well as the Panchayat Act forbids the government from reducing the tenure of the panchayats.”

The director observed that this unusual situation could have been set right if either the government were to request members of the three panchayats to either resign or if the members, on their own, were to resign from office.

The director put forth the proposal to the Panchayats Minister Manohar Azgaonkar, who incidentally represents Dhargalim, the constituency which includes the three panchayats.

“The minister in turn consulted the members of the three panchayats. But all of them insisted that the panchayats should be allowed to complete its full term,” said Borkar.

If not rectified, this abnormality could continue in future. “This would compel authorities to hold elections for the 188 panchayats every five years, only to the restart election procedures afresh 10 months later, only for the benefit of the three panchayats,” averred the director.

Being located in remote areas, reason and democracy has generally been replaced by muscle power in the three panchayats.

Last year, Pernem police charged the Alorna deputy sarpanch and his seven supporters for allegedly assaulting a panch of the village.

The incident is reported to have taken place when a special meeting was convened by Block Development Officer to discuss the no-confidence motion against then Sarpanch Darshana Naik and the deputy.

The deputy sarpanch had allegedly assaulted panch Vilas Raul and prevented him from attending the meeting.

Following the incident, only two of the five members turned up for the meeting. The motion was not moved and subsequently lapsed in the absence of sufficient members to support the motion.

In another incident, two members of the Alorna panchayat tendered their resignations after accusing the panchas of irregularities.

In their resignation letters to the Pernem BDO, both panchas complained that there was no control in the panchayat and that, the ruling panchas were functioning as per their whims and fancies.

The BDO intervened in the matter and following a compromise with other panchas, the two panchas withdrew their resignation letters.

Village politics created instability in the Kansarvarnem panchayats as well.

Sarpanch Savitri Naik tendered her resignation in December 1999 and though ‘personal reason’ was attributed to her resignation, reliable sources disclosed that internal politics forced her to relinquish power.

Last year, Pernem police registered a case against a Kansarvarnem panch for allegedly threatening the sarpanch.

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