Cortalim locals want resurvey of SC, ST, OBC population

The Cortalim-Quelossim gram sabha on Sunday demanded resurvey of ST, SC and OBC and disabled population conducted by OBC Commission.

Censuring the survey, ST leader and former Cortalim sarpanch Antonio Francisco Fernandes said that the survey conducted in Cortalim and Quelossim had glaring blunders and gave an instance, where many families who are non-ST were classified as ST members.

Fernandes also claimed that apart from some houses of other wards, two wards - Church Street and Consua, both in Cortalim, were not covered at all by the survey and termed as a sham.

Fernandes demanded that the responsibility be fixed for the mistakes done by the survey officials.

Fernandes also mentioned that people with surnames as Bimapapa, Chowdary were also included in the survey indicating that non-Goans were also included in the survey list and regretted that the survey did not identify any disabled person despite the fact of many disabled villagers residing in the villages of Cortalim and Quelossim.

Ridiculing the officials, in particular the deputy collector of Mormugao for the inordinate delay in issuing caste certificate, Fernandes alleged that Mormugao Taluka was a unique case where the ST, SC and OBC population had to go through many hurdles in getting caste certificate.

“Even after enclosing all certificates, the deputy collector sends correspondence to the Mamlatdar who in turn sends it to the talathi for conducting a report. After the report is compiled by the talathi, he sends it to Mamlatdar who again sends it to the deputy collector which as a result a lot of time is lost,” Fernandes lamented and added that in other talukas one could get a caste certificate within a week.

On the social welfare schemes, the gram sabha came down heavily on the officials present at the meeting stating that the schemes were not beneficial to the beneficiaries.

“Even educational stipends were not being paid and the students had to simply incur expenditure like swearing of affidavits, etc,” the villagers grumbled.

On the controversial assessment of house tax, the gram sabha demanded that the panchayat first pass a resolution and demanded one month’s time to follow the proper procedure as laid down in the Panchayati Raj Act before implementation the revised house tax.

The meting was presided by Deputy Sarpanch Marcelo Monteiro and was also attended by the officials of social welfare department.

Herald, October 12, 2009 Panaji