They say ‘honesty is the best
policy’ but these days it invites trouble. This is exactly what happened to
Anjuna-Caisua Panchayat Secretary, Laxman Parsekar, who became a soft target
due to political pressure, but people’s support is what saved him. For details
please read the following article, which appeared in today’s O Heraldo:
HERALD CORRESPONDENT
CALANGUTE, NOV 27
Anjuna-Caisua Panchayat Secretary
Laxman Parsekar would have become a soft target by an arbitrary transfer due to
political pressure, but luck favoured the secretary and the transfer order was
stalled.
According to reports, the
transfer was forced on the secretary for allegedly being people-friendly in
providing the required information under the Right to Information Act.
The information provided under the
RTI Act related to 3-4 mega projects, which have been in the eye of a storm.
All the projects are yet to be
completed, but permission from the Town and Country Planning, Health Services
and Anjuna-Caisua Panchayat have reportedly been issued.
Surprisingly, nobody is ready to
accept the blame for the illegalities with authorities passing the buck on each
other.
Incidentally, the vigilance
department has, till date, failed to act on a complaint by villagers of
Anjuna-Caisua highlighting the illegalities with photographic evidence.
The matter of issuing permission
without completion of the projects was being hotly debated at the recent gram
sabha, which was adjourned by Anjuna-Caisua Sarpanch Lavino Rebello.
“The panchayat takes prompt
action into the illegal or wrong doings by the poor villagers but when the
matter highlighting the illegalities of the mega projects or builders, there is
no action forthcoming. The matter is settled by underhand deals,” says Balbim.
“The panchayat says that the
permission was issued based on the clearances by Town and Country Planning and
Health authorities, but was the panchayat unaware of incomplete projects of the
company,” asked Naik.
“The panchayat could have stalled
the occupancy for the simple reason that the projects are still incomplete,” he
added further.
When contacted, Anjuna-Caisua
Sarpanch Lavino Rebello said the occupancy permission was issued by the
panchayat based on the no-objection certificates, etc, issued by the Town and
Country Planning and Health authorities, who are the best to judge the
readiness of the buildings or projects.
“The department must have acted
judiciously as per normal procedures. However, the occupancy was issued before
I could take over as Anjuna-Caisua sarpanch,” he added.
According to sources, Parsekar
was asked not to entertain the villagers under the RTI Act in providing the
required documents relating to a concerned project, but the secretary provided
the required information to the villagers as and when asked by the villagers.
“This is the precise reason for
targeting Parsekar,” said sources.
When Herald undertook a site
inspection of the concerned projects, work was being carried out and the same
were not ready for occupation.
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Moi-mogan,
Domnic Fernandes
Anjuna, Goa
Mob: 9420979201
