l Party top bosses ensure their people get selected. It doesn’t matter if they have passed or failed the entrance test
l Jobs are available for a price or if you can influence votes
l Government departments are filled with people from the minister’s constituency, merit means nothing
Can you ever imagine a situation where you have appeared for an examination or a government job-related test? After submitting an incomplete paper, you get another opportunity much after tests are over. And how does this happen? Because you happen to be the driver of an influential politician, calls are made to the head of the corporation which has asked for the vacancy to be filled. Then further calls are made to the examiner who conducted the exam. Then the VIP candidate is invited to come and appear again to complete his incomplete paper with the full backing and support of the system.
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It does not end here. The VIP candidate gets the right marks and is waiting for the formality of being selected. But he decides to boast about his “achievement” to everyone openly, which is how others get to know.
Something along these lines has happened in Goa according to a video that has gone viral. Here social activist Shailendra Velingkar, speaks of a letter he received from one of the aspirants for the post of Attendant cum Driver in the EDC Goa. Here the aspirant speaks of how more deserving candidates will not be selected because of a VIP candidate who happens to be the personal driver of BJP state president and Chairman of EDC Sadanand Tanavade. According to Velingkar’s video based on the letter sent to him another aspirant who claimed to have authentic information, after the written test on July 23, it “was noticed” that Tanavade’s driver, Sandeep Tulaskar got fewer marks than others since he could not complete his paper.
As per the video, on August 5 morning, Chairman EDC Tanavade and MD EDC summoned one Sardesai a teacher of People’s High School, appointed by the government to issue the written test question paper. The same afternoon the Deputy General Manager of the EDC called the VIP driver, Tulaskar and gave him his incomplete paper to complete it. Apparently, the other aspirant who wrote these details to Velingkar says that Tulaskar is now boasting to all that he has got the job and will wear the EDC uniform. And it all happened, according to the video since Tulaskar’s real boss is Sadanand Tanavade, who is not only the BJP state president but also the chairman of the EDC, which had called for applicants for this post. And if Tanavade’s driver Tulaskar gets the job, he will get his driver’s salary from the government. But the driver is important because he is also an influencer and will certainly do his bit to canvass votes for the BJP.
This is how jobs are got in Goa. It’s not about outsiders and insiders and it doesn’t matter how many jobs the government promises. The influential will always win over the poor.
The template of recruitment in the government is simple – Note or vote or any other extended form of influence
This is how it works, especially during these times. When a minister or MLA with influence is approached for a job or other favours, there are some standard ways of dealing with them, to “build the relationship” and closeness. If it’s a Catholic minister meeting a Hindu he would say, “We are all Goans and need to help each other.” If he meets a Catholic favour seeker he would then say, “You are one of us. And this is all about our land and people.”
If a Hindu minister meets a Catholic who has come for a job or any other work his line would be, “We are all Goans after all. We must look out for each other”. If either Catholic or Hindu minister meets an outsider (‘bhumi-putra’ as per the new bill) looking to get a job done, he would say: “We are all Indians. You have the right to land and other resources. We will fight for you”. If a Hindu meets a Catholic who happens to be Brahmin, he would say, “After all you are Brahmin too and we are one”.
But let us ask does anyone speak for Goa? And how merit should matter more than anything else?
In reality politicians are not influenced at all by caste creed or religion
Notwithstanding everything else, caste and religion are mentioned and influence many decisions. However, they do not REALLY care for their family, friends, bother, brother-in-law etc, However, when it comes to government jobs or special favours, it is actually your note or vote which will do the trick. The rest is all a play.
There is another reality. Jobs are used as political weapons. Not to empower but enslave
The best example of this is the GMC or Goa Medical College. It is now referred to as the VMC or Valpoi Medical College, Valpoi being the constituency of the Health Minister. While this has been mentioned often only because Goans saw this closely, during the period of the pandemic, virtually every department has more people on the rolls who are from the constituency or the area where the minister comes from.
The biggest casualty in this form of recruitment has been the employment exchange which according to its own website states that the “Employment Exchange essentially works as a link between the employers and the job seekers”. Each day there are thousands of job seekers who line up to submit their CVs in the hope of getting government and other jobs. For each government post, the number of applications would go into thousands. At times the lines of applicants are so huge that the police are called in and some aspirants are even thrashed if they go out of line or are disorderly. It has now been made mandatory for recruiters to share with the Labour Department before they advertise for any posts. Yet when it comes to politically influenced recruitments, all norms are thrown to the winds.
Now there is another spin. Some BJP politicians are speaking against their own party because they feel that if they speak for their own party they won’t get votes
With elections looming, some BJP politicians are speaking against their party and its policies including that of recruitment as winning their own seats is more important than the party. These are the same people who have taken maximum advantage of their parties and now speaking against it. They care for no party. It’s all about winning anyhow by any means even if it means using government positions to be filled up by their people in exchange for their votes.
This is the ‘black alert’ we are warning against. Of a group of politicians getting together to form a group with the sole purpose of winning their seats and joining hands to rule and loot.
What is the result of this? We will have a system without merit, without a vision to plan for Goa
When recruitment and jobs become all about filling posts for political gains, the system gets totally rotten and without merit. People who can plan and execute and come with innovative ideas in their departments are no longer a part of the system because they are kept out at the entry-level itself. Governance itself will get crippled in the long run but no one seems to care. The only way out is to have a merit-based people’s government with a clear vision and policies.
