If indications are reflective ofground realities, the CM’s directive to the Anti-Corruption Branch to file acriminal complaint against former director of mines and unknown, unidentifiedsuperiors and junior officers, is a clear hit at Kamat, who was the mines minister.The case has been filed for criminal conspiracy, cheating, forgery manipulationand corruption in issuing 200 odd appointment offers for mines supervisors.
Apparently all letters were issuedaround the same time without checking if they were indeed qualified to be minessupervisors.
The political overtone of the Chief Minister’sdirective is significant. He told reporters that the investigations will naturally probeKamat, since the preliminary inquiry in the job scam has revealed that the"recruitments were done as political favours". The devil (for the onewho will face the inquiry) is always in the detail. Two other similar inquirieswill be conducted by the same agency for illegal recruitments in the health andanimal husbandry departments. While those ministers will come under the ambitof investigation, the specific instruction to include “superiors”, in themining recruitment inquiry, sends a political message that can be interpretedin two ways. Firstly, it could be the first step towards a more directconfrontation on corruption. A face off on mining also helps since thecorruption story was actually played out in this department under the tutelageof Arvind Lolienkar. He reported directly to the former Chief Minister, who wasthe mines minister. If this interpretation is correct, it will indeed be afresh wave because bureaucrats are always the fall guys. It’s time the ministerwho picked up the phone to issue the illegal order is held.
But there’sanother albeit “ uncharitable “ interpretation too. Initiating a complaintagainst “unknown superiors” is akin to denying parentage even after a DNA test.If a probe is being initiated against a department for illegal appointments dueto apparent political reasons, there should be no difficulty in identifying the“unidentified” superior. Is the coy move to tease but no strike going to bepattern? Goa trusts not. Goa hopes not.
Never before hasthere been such a felt need to make the political class accountable and notbehind the signatures of bureacyracts on file
A ruling class is always complacent. Since itcontrols the system, it imagines it is beyond accountability.The political, citizens and media discourse should bring politicians within theambit of accountability by identifying them. Most former Congress ministershave been hit by the amnesia flu. There is a complete loss of memory on majordecisions and controversies. “Maka khoborna” (I have no idea) is an ex-minister’s new way of saying goodmorning. Recall the complete dejectionand disappointment of former PWD minister Churchill Alemao when The Goanexposed how tenders worth 60 crores were distributed like confetti from one PWDdivision alone two days before the election code of conduct came into force.The merit of the story was never questioned. The refrain was that the executiveengineer was in complete charge and he was aware of what was going on.
Unfortunately, ministers inGoa, which is small in size and control, cannot even behave like coaches in theEnglish Premier League, who comment after a heavy loss ‘I can only have a plan,the team needs to execute it”. A Goan minister is the coach, striker, goalkeeper,goal scorer, scorekeeper and the club treasurer, the last being the mostimportant. He may not have the vision to plan his department for the next 10years, but knows how to monetise to for his personal benefit for lifetime.
The reason whythis Chief Minister should take the fight against corruption from beyond thedoorstep of the officers, to the bedrooms and lockers of politicians, is because that is where the rotreally lies.
