PANAJI: Panchayats Minister Mauvin Godinho on Wednesday stated in the Legislative Assembly that the government will formulate a policy for common designed kiosks in all the village panchayat areas within next three months. Mauvin stated this while replying to a starred question tabled by Marcaim MLA Sudin Dhavlikar regarding restriction on issuance of construction licences and occupancy certificates by village panchayat. Mauvin said the government will formulate a scheme to refurbish kiosks with common design within next three months even as he told the house that mobile carts were beconing gaddas in villages. He also stated that the government will issue a circular wherein the panchayat secretary would be duty bound to obey the mandate given by the director of panchayats, deputy director of panchayats and additional director of panchayats. The Minister also accepted a suggestion made by Leader of the Opposition Digambar Kamat to amend the Goa Panchayati Raj Act, making elected MLAs as ex-officio members of village panchayats situated in his/her constituency on the line of Goa Mmunicipalities Act. Earlier, the Minister said that the government had withdrawn two circulars regarding permission to projects in village areas to clear doubts of panchayats but the Goa Panchayat Raj act will be amended soon to achieve the same objectives.
“We want village panchayats to tackle the garbage problem,” he said. The circular issued in January 2020 had mandated that all proponents of projects with more than four dwelling units or commercial projects of greater than 200 square metres built-up area had to route their applications through the block development officer (BDO) and the Directorate of Panchayats specifying appropriate measures needed for managing garbage generated by these projects. Expressing concern that some kiosks in panchayat areas were selling narcotic drugs, Mauvin said that henceforth domicile and uniform design will be made mandatory while giving permissions. “Gaddas in panchayat areas are selling drugs. Goondas too are running gaddas,” he charged. Porvorim MLA Rohan Khaunte urged the government not to harass poor kiosk owners. Stating that many unmployed educated youth were running kioks in villages, Khaunte said, "It's a matter of their daily bread and you can not afford to harass them. The government should implement hawkers street in village panchayats." The Panchayat Minister also announced that the assistance provided to village panchayats under Deendayal Panchayat Raj Infrastructure Development Scheme will be hiked from Rs 2.5 crore to Rs 3.5 crore.