ROQUE DIAS | NT
MARGAO: Rachol panchayat has lost out on a sub health centre project, thanks to the differences existing between the elected panchas of the panchayat which has compelled south Goa District Collector Anjali Sehrawat to cancel the project, which was worth Rs 91 lakh. The project was sanctioned for the village under the Sansad Adharsh Gram Yojana.
While cancelling the project, the sarpanch was warned that if such an attitude persists, no new projects shall be entertained for the village panchayat.
According to former sarpanch and present panch Joseph Vaz, the sub health centre project, proposed by the villagers in 2016 through a special gram sabha, was the need of the hour since the present sub health centre is housed in a small room of chapel premises thus inconveniencing the locals. He said that Rachol will never see such type of projects in the future if projects are cancelled like this. Vaz said that the District Collector should have taken the views of locals before issuing orders to cancel the sanctioned amount for the sub centre centre project.
However, sarpanch Eni Joanette Oliveira was of the opinion that the sub health centre was not a necessity and that the panchayat would have not been in a position to take care of maintenance once the centre was constructed, as Rachol is a financially weak panchayat. She also said that the health department in all likelihood would have not taken over the project.
What compelled the District Collector to act was a formal letter dated November 13, 2017, from the Rachol sarpanch citing that since the panchayat’s financial status was weak, the project could be reconsidered, as the work on it has not commenced.
Vaz, however, said that work on the sub health centre project had indeed started. He added that a tender was floated and the work awarded to one S B Naik. The panchayat had laid the foundation stone at the site on May 17, last year, Vaz said.
Former Rajya Sabha MP Shantaram Naik had sanctioned Rs 91.96 lakh for the construction of the sub health centre in 2016 under MPLADS after the need was highlighted by the villagers during a Sansad Gram Sabha. The proposed project was supposed to come up at the Pras de Rachol area, under survey No 55/2 of the village of Rachol.
According to sources, the tender was floated after completing the formalities in February, last year. Though the foundation stone was laid, the works were held up due to the code of conduct imposed in view of the general panchayat elections, which were held in June 2017.
Meanwhile, changes were effected after new body took over the reins of the five-member panchayat. The sarpanch wrote to the Additional Collector I on November 13 stating that the villagers have resolved to have an administrative block cum community hall on the land earlier identified for the sub health centre thereby changing the earlier plan.
“The new elected body proposes to construct administrative block cum community hall having departments such as health centre, post office, bank, library, senior citizen facilitation centre etc. The ground reality is that the sub/primary health centre is not the need of the hour. After completion of the primary health centre, the department will not take over the project and the panchayat will not be able to bear the expenditure incurred on the maintenance since the panchayat’s annual income is an average Rs 70,000,” sarpanch Eni Joanette Oliveira wrote. Additional Collector I Agnelo Fernandes wrote back on February 12, this year to the sarpanch of Rachol informing that the amount sanctioned stands cancelled. He further stated, “This kind of dubious stand is not acceptable and your office is contradicting the earlier undertaking to take care of the immovable asset. If such attitude persists, then no new projects shall be entertained for the village panchayat,’’ he warned.
