MARGAO: The Benaulim gram sabha members on Sunday urged the panchayat body to take strict action against various hawkers and fruit vendors who do business in the village without any valid licence, informed the sarpanch, Ms Carmeline Fernandes.

The gram sabha members contended that the illegal hawkers and fruit vendors do not generate any revenue as they do not pay any tax to the panchayat and as such sought strict against them. Ms Fernandes, who chaired the meeting, agreed to this suggestion and promised stern action against illegal hawkers and fruit vendors.

It was also informed that out of the 11 panchayat representatives 6 members turned out for today’s meeting and that the meeting began at around 10 a.m. but in absence of adequate quorum, it was adjourned for 30 minutes as per the rules but later restarted. It was also informed that the gram sabha members discussed various developmental projects and felt that the panchayat should do more for the development of the coastal village. The sarpanch was told to see that the drains which are located in the communidade land are de-silted to avoid flooding during the monsoons, which the chair conceded to.

A discussion also took place on the illegal hoardings with the gram sabha members insisting that illegal hoardings should be removed from the village. The gram sabha also was of the view that the panchayat should do more to bring in revenue for the village panchayat which could be utilised for the developmental activities.

The meeting ended at around 3 p.m. after lengthy discussions on the previous minutes of the gram sabha. The meeting was conducted in a cordial atmosphere, the sarpanch disclosed to ‘The Navhind Times’ adding further that the minutes of the previous meeting were also confirmed today. She also disclosed that nothing figured at this gram sabha meeting regarding the file of the local private school which is seeking to extend its infrastructure.

It must be mentioned here that the sarpanch had disclosed to ‘The Navhind Times’ on Saturday that the file which pertains to the extension of the infrastructure of this particular privately managed school was rejected by the panchayat body following the legal opinion of the
panchayat lawyer.