PANJIM: Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has claimed that Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) officer Iva Fernandes has been made to pay the price for attempting to save health of Goans.
Accusing the government of being anti-people, AAP Goa general secretary Pradeep Padgaonkar said, “Instead of awarding Iva Fernandes atleast a certificate of appreciation for unearthing the huge compromises made on the health of the people of Goa, it is shameful that the government went to the extent of hounding her and sending a signal to other officers that they should not dare to touch the formalin lobby that has been active in the state since the past many years.”
Addressing the media, he further said that a year has passed since the formalin scare came to fore and the government has done nothing to win the confidence of the fish eating people of Goa. “Something positive was expected from Chief Minister Dr Pramod Sawant after the removal of Goa Forward Party ministers. On the contrary, the action of divesting Iva of her post has shown that the strength of money from formalin laced fish went beyond any particular power centre in the government”, he added.
Terming the government’s action of victimising the officers who act in good faith as shameful, Padgaonkar said, “The system has been so corrupted that people like Iva had to pay the price for the action taken in the interest of health of the Goan people. Vultures who prey on the dead are almost extinct, but this new kind of vultures are impatient and are feeding on the living.”
