Margao: On the day the state government celebrated National Panchayat Raj Day with a function at Kala Academy in Panaji, the Goa Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRI) Union was in no mood to celebrate. The union demanded that the order passed by the high court, securing panch members’ right to inspect panchayat files, be implemented across all 191 panchayats in Goa by May 1. Additionally, they called for panchayat rules to be amended to make gram sabha decisions binding across all 29 subjects under the 11th Schedule, and for any future celebrations to be held in villages rather than government auditoriums.
PRI Union Criticizes State Government
The PRI union stated that the April 28 High Court direction — ordering that all panchayat members should be given access to panchayat files between 10am and 12pm, seven days in advance — was a reminder of how far the state had drifted from the promise of the 73rd constitutional amendment. The union noted that it took an opposition panch to approach the high court to secure what should have been a democratic right, questioning why Panchayat Minister Mauvin Godinho had not issued a suo motu circular earlier.
Binding Nature of Gram Sabha Decisions
The union also flagged that gram sabha resolutions on land use, fallow land, biodiversity heritage sites, and panchayat biodiversity registers carried no binding force. The town and country planning department routinely overruled panchayat decisions, they said, undermining even the state’s own “No Fallow Land 2027” mission. Convenor J Santano Rodrigues, who also heads the Curtorim biodiversity management committee, said Curtorim held its own observance on April 23 at the union library — with panchayat members, farmers and students gathered around a working gram sabha — in contrast to what he called “portraits and felicitations” at official events.
The union’s demands highlight the ongoing tensions between local governance bodies and state authorities, emphasizing the need for stronger implementation of democratic rights at the grassroots level.
