MARGAO
Congress workers, including representatives of the Margao Congress Block, National Students’ Union of India (NSUI), Goa Pradesh Youth Congress (GPYC) along with concerned citizens of Margao on Monday gheraoed Margao civic chief Damu Shirodkar over what they termed as several irregularities in the recently conducted process to recruit the 12 posts of LDCs and a site supervisor.
They served a month one deadline on the Chairperson to scrap the process and hold the entire exercise afresh failing which they threatened to paralyse the Margao Municipality.
A visibly agitated MMC Chairperson rejected the demand made by the Congress workers, saying the civic body will take the process to the logical conclusion come what may.
Heated exchanges ensued between the representatives of the Congress organisation and the Margao civic chief over the issue.
The delegation was protesting over the exclusion of nearly 50 per cent of eligible candidates and undermining the principles of fairness, transparency, and equal opportunity.
“A staggering 1,767 applications were received for the LDC post alone, highlighting the acute unemployment crisis among Goa's youth and the high stakes involved in these government jobs. Despite seat numbers being published on the municipal website, hundreds of eligible candidates ”approximately 50 per cent ” never received any correspondence regarding their admission status or admit cards, preventing them from appearing for the written examination held around August 23-24, 2025. This failure is not a mere administrative oversight but appears to be a calculated agenda to favour vested interests, as evidenced by the reliance on outdated postal methods instead of cost-effective digital alternatives like email or SMS notifications”, a memorandum submitted stated.
They have demanded scrapping of the current examination and results by declaring the recent written test null and void due to the widespread exclusion of candidates and procedural flaws that compromised its integrity and conduct a fresh examination.
The memorandum has demanded involvement of the Goa Staff Selection Commission to oversee the entire re-examination to guarantee transparency, merit-based selection, and adherence to established norms, preventing any future internal manipulations.
The delegation have called for an independent vigilance probe into the irregularities, including the withholding of admit cards, the choice of postal delivery, and any role of vested interests or political interference. Provide a full list of candidates who received admit cards and those who did not, along with reasons.
