Team Herald
PANJIM: The chorus against cash-for-government job scam grew louder with Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and Congress on Wednesday demanding a judicial probe into the scandal which is turning murkier by the day.
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An AAP delegation met Governor P S Sreedharan Pillai and urged him to constitute a three-member judicial commission to probe the scam.
In a memorandum submitted to the Governor, the delegation which comprised MLAs Cruz Silva and Capt Venzy Viegas along with AAP Goa president Adv Amit Palekar, demanded that all the appointments that are suspected of being secured through unethical means be suspended and the recruitment process be stalled till the inquiry is completed.
The delegation also urged the Governor to ensure transparency in recruitment and implement a standardised computerised recruitment system to prevent such incidents.
The delegation also suggested a public release of all evaluation criteria, processes and results for each position and appointment through the Staff Selection Commission. Speaking to reporters after submitting the memorandum, Adv Palekar said, “Eight months back we had said that government jobs are being sold but then BJP claimed that the allegations were false. But now it has been proved that even officer bearers of BJP are involved in the scam. We have written to the Governor and mentioned how people close to the government are being arrested.”
“I think now Chief Minister Pramod Sawant has received a reply to his question as to why Goan youth are not answering examinations conducted by Goa Public Service Commission (GPSC). If records of those arrested in the scam are checked, then it will be revealed who are involved in the scam,” he said.
Capt Viegas said that now it was clear that one has to pay cash for land conversion, jobs or transfers. The Benaulim MLA said he will speak to all the opposition leaders urging them to come together to address the issue of the cash-for-jobs scam.
Stating that what has come out is just the tip of the iceberg; the Congress demanded a probe by a retired judge of the High Court in the cash-for-jobs scam.
Addressing a press conference at party state headquarters in the city, Goa Pradesh Congress Committee (GPCC) vice-president Sunil Kawthankar said, “It is for the first time that a job scam of this scale has surfaced in the State. There has never been anything like this before. What has come in the light is just the tip of the iceberg. Not even five per cent of the scam has come out. It has changed the definition of Bharatiya Janata Party to ‘Becho Job Party’.”
Pointing out that as per the data released by Union Ministry of Planning and Statistics, Goa had an unemployment rate more than that of national unemployment rate, he alleged that the BJP government first created job scarcity in the State and then indulged in selling it.
“Unemployment rate in Goa is double the national unemployment rate. There has not been any effort to create job opportunities for the students who have passed out of colleges or universities during the last 10 years. Then an environment was created in which all educated youth became desperate for government jobs. The government created demand for jobs and then started supply. This brought the middlemen or the agents whose names have surfaced in the scam,” he alleged.
