PANAJI
The Director of Civil Supplies, Gopal Parsekar, is likely to face scrutiny for his alleged inaction in cases of spoiled rice and the illegal smuggling of rice and wheat sacks to neighbouring Karnataka.
On Wednesday, the leaders of the Goa Forward Party (GFP) sought an answer from Parsekar for delaying action despite the large-scale illegalities and irregularities within the department.
Parsekar assured to have submitted a file to the government recommending action against those responsible for these cases. However, when GFP General Secretary Durgadas Kamat contacted Minister of Civil Supplies Ravi Naik and Department Secretary Sanjit Rodrigues amidst the conversation, both officials confirmed that they had not received any such file.
In response, GFP leaders led by Prashant Naik threatened to disrupt the proceedings of the first day of the monsoon session of the Legislative Assembly if the Director fails to take action by Friday.
Sources in the government revealed that the Director could be questioned by superiors for not acting tough on the issues.
The department had already come under the radar when the Crime Branch seized 1014 bags of rice and wheat from three locations in Ponda last year. Although arrests were made, suspects were subsequently released on bail.
The probe revealed a persistent practice of smuggling these gunny bags into Karnataka, where these were sold to dealers at inflated prices and then further sold to consumers in the open market at significantly higher rates. The bags were taken from some of the department’s warehouses or fair price shops.
In May this year, the State was rocked by reports of fungus-infested rice stocks, particularly in Benaulim and Mormugao talukas. The department assured action but no substantial progress has been made till date.
