MAPUSA
The Opposition cornered the government in the alleged PWD job recruitment scam on Wednesday, and once again demanded setting up of a House Committee to unravel the alleged Rs 70 crore job recruitment scam, under the former PWD minister Deepak Pauskar, but the State government stonewalled the opposition demand stating that the vigilance department was inquiring into the matter.
Alleging that there was a major “cash for job scam” in the previous Pramod Sawant-led government, Goa Forward Party President, Vijai Sardesai sought to know whether the government was ready to admit there was a scam or not.
Sardesai said Atanasio Monserrate and Sudin Dhavlikar, both ministers in the present government, had also found something amiss in the PWD job recruitment process. He informed that while Monserrate had claimed that Rs 25 to 30 lakh was demanded per job, Dhavlikar had called for an investigation by the Central Bureau of Investigation.
“It’s a 70 crore recruitment scam and the government wants to keep the entire investigation in cold storage,” Sardessai alleged and demanded appointment of a House Committee.
PWD Minister Nilesh Cabral informed the Goa Legislative Assembly that the Vigilance Department was conducting an inquiry in the matter and whether there was a scam or not will be revealed only after the investigation is completed.
“I have nothing to hide. Once the inquiry is over I will place the report on the table of the House,” Cabral said.
Leader of Opposition Yuri Alemao also alleged that the PWD job recruitment process was a major scam and demanded setting up of a House Committee.
“You are playing with the lives of innocent youth. The government must appoint a House Committee in the matter,” Alemao said.
Cabral said the PWD was facing acute staff crunch and therefore sought permission to restart the recruitment process afresh through re-examination.
“Let the vigilance probe continue. We will conduct re-examination of all the candidates who had applied for the 386 Junior Engineer (JE) and Technical Assistant (TA) jobs,” he said.
According to the Fatorda MLA, the re-examination should be done in a transparent manner and by an independent agency.
“What is the guarantee that the same corruption charge won’t stick again? Let the examination be conducted either by the GPSC or through the Staff Selection Committee,” Sardesai said.
