TIMES NEWS NETWORK, TNN, Oct 29, 2010
MARGAO: Stakeholders of village comunidades have not taken kindly to the deputation of employees of the office of administrator of comunidades for election duty and have demanded an explanation from the authorities in this regard.
Aquem comunidade attorney Celestino Noronha has written to the south zone administrator of the comunidades pointing out that the practice is contrary to the provisions of the Representation of People's Act 1951.
"Requisition of the employees (of the office of the administrator of comunidades, south zone) by electoral authorities over the years is totally arbitrary and illegal and contrary to the provisions of law. What is even more shocking is that your office, knowing fully well that it has been funded entirely by the comunidades of south Goa over the past several decades, has chosen to remain a mute spectator and a willing handmaid. Its employees have been conveniently released for electoral work while their salaries have been paid by the comunidades," Noronha wrote.
He has pointed out that the deputation of comunidade employees results in disruption of their functioning. Pointing out to the information obtained by him under RTI, Noronha said, "A large number of escrivaos (clerk) of village comunidades were requisitioned with no alternative arrangements being made; consequently the said comunidades faced considerable hardship and had to virtually shut down during the deputation period."
Charging the office of the administrator of comunidades with "miserably failing in its bounden duty to object to the arbitrary and invalid actions of the electoral authorities", Noronha has demanded that appropriate claims be filed with the concerned authorities for "recovery of the salaries of comunidade staff during the period of their deployment for election and election-related work in the past".
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