PANAJI
In a major lapse on the part of the district administration, the Mamlatdar's Office, Bardez has no record of residential certificates -- if not all -- dating back to 2005. The shocking revelation surfaced when the Institute of Psychiatry and Human Behaviour (IPHB) wrote to the Mamlatdar seeking details of its employee Satish Naik.
“The Mamlatdar has responded to our letter saying no records are available. We are further investigating to find out how we can obtain details pertaining to that time,” Deputy Director Pooja Madkaikar said while addressing a press conference over allegations of alleged illegal appointment of Naik to the post of Occupational Therapy Technician in 2010.
Ex-President of Goa Government Employees’ Association John Nazareth has claimed Naik’s residential certificate was overwritten and demanded an investigation and the therapist’s dismissal. The residential certificate reportedly belongs to the year 2006, and to inquire into Nazareth’s allegations, the IPHB had written to the Mamlatdar seeking details.
The IPHB officer further claimed that all its recruitment processes are strictly based on Recruitment Rules while downplaying allegations levelled by Nazareth, who approached the Vigilance Department against the IPHB’s recruiting team last week.
Madkaikar denied any favourism towards Naik but also maintained that if he is found guilty, deemed action will be taken against him.
“As per the RR, a Technician for Occupational Therapy should mandatorily pass matriculation with Science subject. It also has a relaxed clause of holding a diploma in Occupational Therapy from a recognized university,” she said at the media conference held in her office at IPHB on Monday. The IPHB has also sent an official communiqué to the concerned high school in Maharashtra to verify Naik’s matriculation certificate.
Madkaikar also refuted allegations of recruiting Naik based on fake documents. “During an internal inquiry, certificates of vocational courses submitted by Naik were verified, although these documents are not relevant to this post. No other certificates are required other than SSC to be appointed to the Occupational Therapy Technician post. Moreover, the vocational training undergone by Naik was not full-time and is held once a week or so,” she added.
The officer further said that an employee of his rank is not involved in counseling a patient, as alleged by Nazareth. “Naik is not involved in assessing a patient or interviewing him or deciding what is good or bad for the patient. That is entirely for an Occupational Therapist to decide, who is a degree holder,” she explained. “The IPHB has zero tolerance for corruption or any illegality, and if Naik is found guilty, deemed action will be taken against him,” she reiterated.
