The hoary institution of comunidades, based on the unique concept of sharing benefits from community land, is witnessing a progressive decline.
The lack of transparency in the age-old bodies, dating back to the pre-Portuguese era and often referred to as village republics, is just one of the ills plaguing the system.
"Every comunidade is beset by malpractices, illegal sale of land and swindling of funds. Vested interests fight for the opportunity to become members of the managing committees to achieve their selfish ends," Pereira alleged.
Many of the 223 comunidades draw up their budgets and financial accounts and even submit them to the respective administrator, as per the rules, but the administrators' offices routinely accept the accounts without an internal audit.
"As a practice, some comunidades do submit the accounts, but the administrators' offices hardly vet them. There should be an audit, but the files are not sent to the administrative tribunal for external audit," Polycarpo D'Souza, a comunidade component, alleged.
The administrators' offices have also benefitted from the lack of audit from the administration. "The system is not working. Comunidades pay derama (10% of their income) to administrators, but no accounts of financial matters are kept transparently," D'Souza added.
An air of ambiguity over procedural matters prevails in the administrative tribunal. "The financial accounts were received earlier, but have stopped for more than 30 years," a source in the administrative tribunal office said. The officials are unable to state why penal action has not been initiated in the matter.
The administrative tribunal had passed an order in1997, directing that all three administrators of comunidades in Goa restore the process of auditing in comunidades. Taking cognizance of the lack of adequate manpower in the tribunal, he had assured that once accounts are submitted, the requisite infrastructure could be drawn up. But the order has remained only on paper.
An official in one of the administration offices bemoaned the lack of adequate staff to carry out the exercise. "There is no separate cell for it," the source said.
Gaunkars also concede that poor knowledge about comunidade affairs compounds the problem. "The government-appointed administrators hardly understand the code of comunidades and wily clerks often manipulate things," D'Souza said. Frequent transfers of these officials and additional duties add to their woes.
In this scenario, the managing committees often indulge in unbridled corruption. The clerks operate several bank accounts to avoid scrutiny of gaunkars and shareholders. A few of them are also members of the panchayat and secure approvals on both sides to allot plots illegally. Many cases of shady dealings have been swept under the carpet due to lack of transparency in comunidades, gaunkars alleged.
