Residents of Paladka gram panchayat in Dakshina Kannada have demanded urgent repairs to a badly damaged road and the replacement of deteriorated electricity poles, bringing local infrastructure and public-safety concerns to the centre of a gram sabha held on Wednesday.
The first phase of the Paladka gram panchayat’s gram sabha for 2026-27 was held at the Kadandale Palke Ganesh Darshan auditorium in Moodabidri. During the meeting, resident Sunil Madike sought immediate repairs to the road in the Kalloli area, stating that its deteriorated condition had made it unsafe.
Madike also urged the authorities to remove electricity poles that had weakened and reached a dangerous condition, and to install new poles in their place. The demands place responsibility for two linked local infrastructure issues—road maintenance and electricity-related safety—before the gram panchayat and the concerned departments.
The meeting was also disrupted briefly by an exchange between Harish Shetty and Sucharitha Shetty, a former zilla panchayat president. When Harish Shetty was speaking, Sucharitha Shetty intervened and said that villagers should first be given an opportunity to present their grievances. Harish Shetty then alleged, without naming Sucharitha Shetty, that a person facing a Lokayukta case was seated on the dais.
Sucharitha Shetty rejected the allegation, said there was no Lokayukta case against her and challenged Harish Shetty to prove the claim. The matter was later defused after the nodal officer and the development officer intervened. The report does not establish any Lokayukta case against either participant.
Education-related concerns were also raised at the gram sabha. Resident Bhaskar alleged that the recruitment of physical education teachers in the secondary-school section had violated a 2016 state gazette order and caused injustice to eligible candidates. He further said that the education department’s senior officials had been approached, but that the Moodabidri block education officer had not responded.
Panchayat development officer Manjula Hunagund said the matter would be brought to the attention of the concerned department. The report does not provide details of the alleged recruitment violations or identify any specific appointment affected by the complaint.
The gram sabha also discussed previous meeting proceedings, income and expenditure, ward meeting reports, completed and ongoing works, lists of people without houses or residential sites, the Viksit Bharat Gramin Rozgar and Livelihood Assurance Mission, and the selection of beneficiaries for various government schemes. Applications from residents were accepted during the meeting.
The proceedings were attended by administrator Mallikarjun, KDP member T.N. Kembare, taluk guarantee committee member Ganesh Acharya and former panchayat vice-president Praveen Siqueira. The panchayat and the relevant electricity and education authorities are now expected to take up the road, pole-safety and recruitment-related complaints raised during the gram sabha.
