PANAJI
At a time when the needle of suspicion in the ongoing jobs-for-cash scam playing out in the State is poised in the direction of politicians in the saddle, public statements made by at least three members of the Pramod Sawant cabinet has earned them the ire of the Opposition which has been hankering for an independent judicial probe.
Three ministers -- Ravi Naik, Atanasio (Babush) Monserrate and Ramkrishna (Sudin) Dhavlikar -- have broken their silence over the scandal which has been dominating media space over the last several weeks. While Monserrate has virtually endorsed the Opposition demand for an 'independent probe' by a retired judge, Dhavalikar has said the matter is of "grave concern" and will be discussed collectively at the next cabinet meeting.
Naik on the other hand towed the line of the Sawant government by saying that the police were doing a good job arresting so many accused and would get to the bottom of the alleged scam and the bigwigs -- 'Godfather' and 'Godmother' -- if any.
The comments from the ministers drew sharp reactions from two Opposition political parties -- the Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) -- who have been insisting on the government ordering a judicial commission probe headed by a retired High Court judge.
Amidst these comments of the ministers, the Congress' Aldona MLA, Carlos Alvares-Ferreira said Sawant needs to "walk the talk" and order an independent inquiry.
"The police investigation will not unravel the whole truth and not name all the players involved," Alvares-Ferreira said in a video-statement.
Alvares-Ferreira also alleged that certain police officers were not registering FIRs and were dissuading victims from filing complaints.
He said, he demands that Sawant order an inquiry under the Commissions of Inquiry Act if there is no fear of any wrongdoing by his government, even as he urged victims to come forward and file complaints.
Meanwhile, AAP's Benaulim MLA, Venzy Viegas censured the police for making public the names of victim-complainants during their investigations, thus making them vulnerable to pressure from the 'bigwigs' involved.
"The identities of the complainants must be kept confidential. It will give courage to more victims of this massive job scam to file complaints or become witnesses to provide evidence," Viegas said.
Both the Congress and the AAP have formerly asked for a judicial commission inquiry into the job racket and the latter has also met the Governor, PS Sreedharan Pillai, formally presenting him a memorandum to use his offices and persuade Sawant to order the judicial probe.
