Margao: With the district planning committees for North and South Goa yet to be constituted, the larger question of devolution of funds, functions and functionaries to Goa’s second-tier panchayati raj institutions remains unanswered. This grievance has persisted for over two decades since the formation of the two zilla panchayats in Goa.Elected ZP members, who often complain of being reduced to ceremonial functionaries with an annual constituency outlay capped at a modest Rs 50 lakh, now find themselves without even the constitutionally mandated planning apparatus that was meant to give them a say in district development priorities.“The DPCs were envisaged as the platform through which panchayats and municipalities would consolidate their development plans into a unified district blueprint. Their prolonged absence effectively means that the bottom-up planning process guaranteed under the Constitution exists only on paper in Goa,” a senior bureaucrat said.Officials said that the pattern is not new. Since zilla panchayats were constituted in 2000, successive govts have used the powerlessness of these bodies to retain greater control at the state level. “Ideally, projects from gram panchayats should be routed through the zilla panchayats to ensure accountability. Instead, funds continue to flow through MLAs and MPs, leaving the ZPs as mere spectators,” an official familiar with panchayat administration said.Another official pointed to the erratic functioning of the DPCs even when they have existed on paper. “In 25 years, the South Goa DPC met to finalise a draft development plan only once, in Jan 2024. That tells you how seriously the mandatory provisions of the 73rd and 74th constitutional amendments have been treated,” the official said.Goa Panchayat Raj Institutions convener Santan Rodrigues said the current impasse was symptomatic of a deeper malaise. “Zilla panchayats have become white elephants. There is hardly any work being done by these bodies. Govt has totally failed to enforce the mandatory provisions relating to district-level planning despite assurances given even to the high court,” Rodrigues said.With municipal bodies too functioning under administrators since the expiry of their tenure, officials admit the DPCs cannot be meaningfully constituted in the interim. “Without elected municipal representatives, the DPC composition itself remains incomplete,” an official said, adding that the delay could stretch the process well into the next fiscal year — leaving panchayats without a unified development roadmap yet again.
