Goa panchayat used special fund for illegal structure: govt

At least one Gram Panchayat in Goa 'misappropriated' part of the special golden jubilee fund, meant for creating infrastructure, for construction of an "illegal" structure, according to own admission of the state government.
The government had released a fund of Rs 10 lakh each to all gram panchayats last year as part of its golden jubilee year celebrations marking liberation from the Portuguese rule, but they did not use it for the "right purpose".
"The fund was supposed to be utilised for creating infrastructure in villages but several panchayats interpreted the government guidelines as per their convenience", Panchayat Minister Laxmikant Parsekar told the Legislative Assembly today.

He said one of the constructions under this scheme, completed by St Andre village panchayat, 15 km from Panaji, was "illegal".
"The panchayat did not take mandatory clearance from the Town and Country Planning Department. The Panchayat spent Rs 6.06 lakh for construction, of which Rs 2.54 lakh was diverted from the golden jubilee fund and Rs 3.52 lakh from village panchayat fund", Parsekar added.
He said that all panchayats are obliged to secure necessary permissions for any construction, even if they are under their jurisdiction.

"We need to be strict on such matters (illegal constructions by panchayats)", Parsekar said without giving any concrete assurance to take action against the sarpanch.

The issue was raised on the floor of the House by BJP Legislator Vishnu Wagh who alleged that the sarpanch of St Andre village was involved in the illegality.
Intervening in the matter, Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar said the state government could recover the amount from the concerned sarpanch if the structure is found to be illegal. "The Sarpanch should have handled the issue properly", he said.