PANAJI
In a significant indictment of the state of affairs under his own regime, the Goa government headed by Chief Minister Pramod Sawant has told the Bombay High court that it is scrapping the entire process of recruitment of junior engineers in the Public Works Department.
The process was earlier put on hold by Chief Minister Pramod Sawant after complaints from his own MLAs that the process was rigged by the then PWD Minister Deepak Pauskar, who was later denied a ticket by the ruling BJP.
The Goa government had launched a vigilance inquiry into the alleged sale of jobs by Pauskar, who was accused by his own party colleagues of selling government jobs for up to Rs 35-lakh.
The job scam was also challenged before the Bombay High Court seeking scrapping of the process in the wake of the corruption allegations.
BJP MLA Atanasio Monserrate has accused his party colleague and PWD Minister Deepak Pauskar of demanding and accepting Rs 25-30 lakh per post in the department of public works, recruitment for which is currently underway.
Monserrate claimed he had “proof that Pauskar was selling the posts to the highest bidder” and called on the Chief Minister to scrap the current recruitment process.
The Opposition Congress had also demanded a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation into the scam.
