TEAM HERALD
PANJIM: Goa government has referred the investigations into the ferry ticket scam that had led to suspension of 13 ticket collectors and sailors, last year, to the vigilance department.
The River Navigation Department (RND) had in October 2013 suspended its workers for not depositing money collected by them from commuters for that year, which they did in November 2013 and their suspensions were revoked. The amounts ranged from Rs 20,000 to 50,000 per ticket collector.
Official sources confirm that State government has referred the matter to vigilance for in-depth investigation, citing large scale corruption. Accordingly, vigilance department sought detailed report from RND on ferry routes, fare, sale of tickets and collection for the years 2011, 2012 and 2013.
RND charges around Rs 10 per four-wheeler and no fares are charged for commuters and two-wheeler. There are 17 ferry routes operational today catering to around three lakh commuters and 20,000 vehicles, on an average.
