Panaji: Questioning the manner in which the gram sabha was held at Chimbel on Sunday, activists on Monday said the director of panchayats should hold an impartial inquiry to verify he validity of the resolution in favour of the Chimbel IT park.Chimbel manch and villagers, a group comprising locals have who questioned the validity of the resolution said that they were in the process of appealing to the panchayat department seeking an inquiry and that the group would also submit videos of the chaos that took place at the gram sabha.“The gram sabha was held in a small room which had been occupied by migrant workers who were paid to support the resolution,” president of the group Gurudas Shirodkar said.Local resident Tukaram Kukolkar said that the gram sabha hall was overcrowded and that people were arguing as soon as the secretary of the panchayat and the observer began to read out the agenda for the meeting.“How can you pass a resolution amid noise? By claiming that the resolution was passed amid noise it means he is accepting that something illegal has been done,” Kukolker said.Activists also argued that the resolution on the proposed IT Park was not listed on the agenda of the gram sabha. “Proper procedure for the gram sabha was not followed. So how could any resolution be taken up for discussion?” another villager Anna Viegas said.However, Chimbel sarpanch Chandrakant Kunkolkar denied the allegations and said that the resolution favouring the Chimbel IT park was valid and that no more gram sabhas would be held to discuss the issue. “People brought up the issue even though it was not on the agenda and when it was put to vote, 70-80% raised their hands in favour of it,” Kunkolkar said.According to sources, the Chimbel panchayat is in favour of department of information and technology’s IT Park but some villagers are adamant that the land should be utilized for agriculture.The activists have requested for a copy of the minutes of the gram sabha to find out how many residents voted in favour of the resolution, who proposed the resolution and who seconded it.

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