TEAM HERALD
PANJIM: A peon from the Department of Planning, Statistics and Evaluation has complained against the department’s Director Anand Sherkhane to the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Commission for abusing him and forcing him to do domestic work.
Pandurang Shirvoikar, in his complaint, alleged that Sherkhane deputed him to do domestic work such as cleaning the floor, cleaning fish pond, doing laundry, polishing shoes and toilets, and other works. “He also made me give him body massage for about two hours every alternate day at his residence at Altinho,” Shirvoikar stated in the complaint. “The family members of Sherkhane even threatened me with dire consequences if I refused to do the work,” he alleged, adding that the acts of the director and his immediate family members are most inhuman. The copy of the complaint has also been marked to Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar. “Everyday when I reported for duty at the office of Planning, Statistics and Evaluation, Porvorim, the Director told me to go to his residence and do the above jobs. He even told me that doing the household jobs is part of my duty and the government pays me for that,” Shirvoikar alleged.
The complainant stated that on refusal to continue doing domestic work in December, he was served a transfer order to the Civil Registrar’s office in Margao, on January 7. Sherkhane, has, however, refuted the allegations made by Shirvoikar. He maintained that Shirvoikar’s transfer was a routine one as per government norms. “There is no truth in any of the allegations. He never worked at my residence,” he maintained.
