Team Herald
PANJIM: The State Cabinet on Tuesday accorded its approval to grant one-year extension to the scheme providing government jobs to the children of freedom fighters, giving much needed relied to them.
However, this would be the final extension granted to the scheme, which was announced in 2013-14.
Addressing mediapersons post Cabinet meeting, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant said that this would be the last extension to the scheme as only 90 children are left to be absorbed for various government jobs.
He said that directions have been issued to all the departments to submit the pending freedom fighters quota to be filled.
Sawant said that all 90 applications of the children of freedom fighters pending with the State government will be disposed of within a year and applicants will be employed by June, this year.
Sawant said that since he took over as the Chief Minister (in 2019), 270 applicants have been given government jobs, while 90 are remaining.
“The Chief Ministers before me had given jobs to 150-200 children of freedom fighters,” he said.
He said these vacancies would be filled directly, without routing them through Staff Selection Commission.
Sawant also pointed out that all the eligible candidates, in the past were offered letters by the government stating that they shall be temporarily engaged by the Goa Human Resource Development Corporation (GHRDC) as per their qualification, till such time the vacancies are created in different departments.
“However, they did not accept the offer or else by now all would have been with GHRDC,” he said.
The government has reserved two per cent of the posts in each department for the children of freedom fighters. In yet another decision, Cabinet approved formation of Department of Goa Gazetteer and Historical Records that will be solely responsible for departmental research henceforth.
Sawant said that Goa Gazetteer, which was a unit under Archives Department, will now be turned into a full-fledged department.
