the goan I network
CANACONA
Activists in Canacona raised hue and cry after claiming that at least 12 government employees had been travelling from their homes in the neighbouring city of Karwar in Karnataka on a daily basis.
The activists confronted the Canacona Deputy Collector Pritidas Gaonkar and claimed that some of these government employees included officers at the Canacona administrative complex and some posted at the Polem border checkpost.
Gaonkar, however, claimed ignorance in the matter and offered to enquire and to stop the practice if their allegations were confirmed.
The activists claimed that an officer posted at the Polem border checkpost to check for people and traffic entering the State was himself from across the border.
“The officer travels daily from Karwar and attends to duty at the checkpost. After office hours, he leaves for his home in Karwar,” said Janardhan Bhandari.
“We have information that the officer has visited his relatives in Hubli and elsewhere in Karnataka on Saturday/Sunday, then comes to border checkpost, proceeds to the Canacona office, meets staff and visitors on working days on a daily basis.”
“Karnataka already has a high number of Covid-19 cases and this officer could easily contract Covid-19 in Karnataka and then spread the infection in Canacona taluka,” Bhandari added.
Bhandari claimed that teams manning the Polem border checkpost have been allowing these officers to enter the State with merely their ID cards.
“Government officials are required to stay at the place of their duty/workplace. Some days back, a journalist who crossed the gate for his investigative report was quarantined for 14 days by Canacona police manning the Polem border check post. So, how come these government officers from Karwar are allowed to cross the border on a daily basis,” asked Bhandari.
Another activist, Sandesh Telekar, said they had enquired with staff posted at the Polem border check post and found out there are about 12 officers who arrive daily from their homes in Karwar and work in different parts of Canacona taluka, before returning home across the border after their duty.
“Besides a body temperature check with a thermal scanner, they are subjected to no other precautionary measure. Anyone entering the State from either Karnataka or Maharashtra are normally subjected to quarantine to prevent the spread of Covid-19. So, why is there an exception for these government officers residing across the border and entering the State on a daily basis,” asked Telekar.
Incidentally, Dy Speaker and Canacona MLA Isidore Fernandes had claimed that teams at the Polem border check post had been doing a good job and insisted that no unauthorised entry is permitted at the Polem border.
Fernandes, however, maintained silence on claims
that government officers residing in Karnataka were entering Canacona taluka on a daily basis.
