Chimbel villagers block p’yat over delay in gram sabha

Panaji: Chimbel villagers once again put up a united front on Monday, blocking panchayat staff from opening the office in protest against the non-holding of a gram sabha for the past ten months.Following the agitation, the sarpanch assured that the meeting would be convened on March 15.Villagers were agitated that two ordinary gram sabha meetings scheduled for Oct and Jan were not held by the panchayat.On Monday morning, a large group of locals, predominantly women, led a morcha to the panchayat office, protesting the failure to fulfil the mandatory requirement under the Panchayati Raj Act.A local voluntary organisation, Chimbel Kala & Sanskrutik Manch (CKSM), had first complained to the Tiswadi BDO, alleging breach of the Panchayati Raj Act as the panchayat failed to hold the October gram sabha.

Following the complaint, the BDO issued a notice directing the Chimbel panchayat to conduct the October meeting in November 2025. The BDO later directed the panchayat to hold the Jan meeting on Feb 22.“But the panchayat did not adhere to the BDO’s order,” said Govind Shirodkar of CKSM. The Manch subsequently approached the director of panchayats, seeking an inquiry and action under Section 50(4) of the Panchayati Raj Act.

In its letter, the Manch stated that failure to hold the gram sabha was hindering villagers from participating in development activities and availing state and central government schemes and funds meant for village development.As tension mounted on Monday, a large crowd of villagers demonstrated outside the office for over an hour. Sarpanch Sandesh Chodankar called the police and later met the agitators, who questioned him over non-compliance with the BDO’s directions. He agreed to convene the gram sabha and subsequently issued a notice, acceding to the villagers’ demand.