MARGAO: The South Goa Congress on Friday accused the State government of corruption during the Viksit Goem/IEW event held in February, during which Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Goa.
Margao Congress leader Savio Coutinho referred to the Rs 120 crore expenses shown as incurred towards 33 works executed, with 23 of these works allegedly being executed without following codal formalities.
During a press briefing with Camilo Camara, Lalan Parsekar, Robert Vaz, Anwar Naroo, Sujata Parsekar, and Anees Tanwar at the District Congress office, Coutinho gave details of the various works that are being claimed to have been executed.
Coutinho claimed that despite the minimal actual work done, substantial sums were reported as being spent. For instance, at the site where the Prime Minister’s helicopter landed, only a ramp was constructed, yet Rs 52.63 lakh was claimed to have been spent.
Similar discrepancies occurred at a makeshift bus stand and the KTC bus stand. Coutinho also pointed out wasteful spending on unnecessary projects, like the cutting down of trees under the guise of security measures. The alleged corruption extends to the provision of hotmix carpets and road tarring, with suspicion of duplicative spending and inflated costs. Furthermore, Coutinho accused the PWD of withholding crucial documentation, such as measurement book sheets, to conceal their misdeeds.
He challenged the government to refute these accusations and demands transparency regarding additional expenses, hinting at the possibility of a larger scandal.
