ACTIVISTS FLAY SUGGESTION ON PANCHAYAT TRIBUNAL

The Goa Law Commission's recommendation to introduce district courts as panchayat tribunals to entertain second appeals and revision petitions on the orders of the director of panchayats (DoP) is only a means to delay and complicate the disputes redressal system in village panchayats and put justice beyond the reach of the common man. This was the collective opinion of participants at a recent consultation to discuss the recommendations of the Goa Law Commission (GLC) to the Goa government for carrying out amendments to the Goa Panchayati Raj Act. The consultation was organized by Centre for Panchayati Raj-Peaceful Society and attended by elected panchayat representatives, lawyers, academicians, activists and gram sabha members. Instead of panchayat tribunal, the consultation suggested that there should be a panchayat commission consisting of three members; the chairman being a retired district court judge or a serving district judge on deputation, and two public personalities having experience in social or panchayati raj affairs. The consultation also pointed out that while the GLC recommended that the panchayat tribunal should try to dispose the revision petitions within three months, no such time limit has been set for the director of panchayats to dispose appeals before him. This leaves the door wide open for the director to kill all village-level opposition by the simple expedient of delaying the case through timeless adjournments, the consultation opined. Another concern voiced by the participants is the injecting of the provisions of the Civil Procedure Code into the Panchayati Raj Act, which amounts to further centralization of powers by the government in order to subjugate the local bodies by rendering them toothless. The recommendations that powers be given to the director of panchayats and heads of government departments to interfere in the administration of village panchayats is also an infringement on the rights of the local self-governments. It was agreed that the powers of the director of panchayats must be limited to administrative matters only and should not extend to any quasi-judicial matters whatsoever. The participants also noted with concern that the GLC has not conducted any public consultation on this issue where a bill already passed by the Assembly has been returned back by the Governor after a public outcry. The participants felt that instead of carrying out piece-meal changes to the Panchayat Raj Act, the government should constitute a broad-based committee to study the entire Act in the light of the draft model Panchayat Act prepared by the union ministry for panchayati raj and the Goan experience of the last 15 years. It was also decided to request all gram sabhas and VP elected bodies in Goa to adopt resolutions opposing the recommendations of the Goa Law Commission for amendments to the Goa Panchayat Raj Act. Present among the participants at the consultation were chairperson of Goa Panchayat Mahila Shakti Abhiyan Nelly Rodrigues, sarpanch of Macasana Mariano D'Costa, Thalmann Pereira, Jatin Naik, executive secretary of Council for Social Justice and Peace Fr Maverick Fernandes and other activists. The consultation was moderated by the director of Centre for Panchayati Raj Soter D'Souza.