Vadodara, May 19: With every riot, the offices of the Vadodara taluka panchayat become inaccessible owing to its location in the communally-sensitive Panigate area. Now, the legislative wing of the local body has decided to shift the premises outside the Walled City area. The district administration has also consented to support the proposal.
Located in the old Bhadra Fort near Panigate, the panchayat lies in an area that is usually the first to bear the brunt of any communal tension in the city. It has 40-odd employees and more than 100 visitors come for official work from Vadodara taluka’s rural areas every day. The issue came to a head when the panchayat offices had to remain closed for more than a week during the communal tension over the dargah demolition earlier this month.
Officials say pre-monsoon development work was badly affected as employees could not reach the curfew-bound premises. ‘‘Even after curfew was lifted, my employees were scared to venture into the area. Every news of stabbing demotivates them from coming to the place. Also, it becomes difficult to carry out development work during the time that the panchayat is closed. That is why we have decided to change the place. The district administration has agreed to temporarily allocate space in Narmada Bhawan on Jail Road and we would complete the process soon,’’ informed Hasmukh Patel, president of the body. Patel wants independent premises to house the panchayat, and is looking at an empty building complex at the Model Farm near the University office for the same.
District Collector Rajiv Topno said, ‘‘A certain procedure has to be followed that involves consent of the concerned department (for panchayats). Once we receive a formal application the district accommodation and allotment committee would make a decision,’’ |