Team Goemkarponn
PANAJI: Revenue Minister Atanasio “Babush” Monserrate on Friday clarified that the Goa government will take a final decision on the declaration of villages as urban areas only after consulting the concerned village panchayats and considering their views.
In an official statement, Monserrate said the government had notified certain areas as urban areas in 2020 but had later withdrawn the notification.
He said the issue was revisited after the Village Panchayat of Taleigao recently submitted a representation stating that it fulfilled the criteria prescribed for a Census Town. Following an examination of the proposal, the government notified Taleigao as an urban area.
Monserrate said that since the government had earlier dealt with the issue of declaring urban areas and was now acting on a proposal from a village panchayat, it was appropriate to seek the views of other village panchayats that had previously been notified as urban areas.
Accordingly, the Directorate of Panchayats has been directed to obtain comments and views from the respective village panchayats.
“The government shall take an appropriate decision in the matter only after due consultation with the concerned village panchayats and upon considering their views, so as to ensure that any decision reflects the consensus and aspirations of the affected villages,” Monserrate said.
The minister’s clarification comes amid public debate over the declaration of Taleigao as an urban area and concerns raised by residents of other villages over similar proposals.
