MARGAO: The gram sabha of the village panchayat of Betalbatim was held on Sunday, where not only the villagers but also the Tourism Minister, Mr Francisco Pacheco who attended, took active part in the deliberations.

Among the various resolutions taken at the meet, one that was backed by Mr Pacheco was of the revoking of the licence issued for a mega project, to a Margao based builder. It was alleged that the panchayat body had not taken into consideration the consequences of such a building project in the village, such as lack of basic infrastructure, electricity, water and road connectivity.
Opposing the project, Mr Pacheco told the panchayat body that this particular builder has most number of projects in Betalbatim village, and further said that the builder had made no contribution towards the village. He further questioned whether such huge building projects had helped any villager and whether any villager was in a position to buy the flats in these projects. This was greeted with applause and the sarpanch was asked to take steps to revoke the licence issued for this project, after obtaining the necessary legal opinion in the matter. The villagers also resolved to appeal against the order of the deputy director of panchayats, who has issued orders to grant licence to this project.
When Mr Pacheco what prompted him to attend Sunday’s gram sabha, the minister replied that he attended as a member. He said he spoke in the interests of the people of his village and also supported the resolution against the kiosks (gaddas) which are obstructing the free flow of traffic on the main road. He said that the sarpanch was asked to remove forthwith those kiosks that did not have the proper licenses.
Ms Sandiaya Naik, the panchayats secretary informed the gram sabha that only 12 kiosks had licences. The sarpanch said the kiosks should not be sub-let as it defeats the purpose of self employment for the villagers as often these kiosks are sub-let to migrants.
The other resolution taken was that any building project was to be discussed first at the gram sabha before the file is forwarded to the respective departments.
To a query from the members over the irregular electrical supply in the village, the sarpanch and the secretary replied that a letter was sent to the Power Minister to visit the village, and they were waiting for a reply. The members then said that a reminder should be sent. The issue of garbage was discussed at length at the meeting, and the panchayat was taken to task for failing to tackle this problem satisfactorily.