A government job is the ultimate prize much sought after by the average Goan youth after walking out of their school or college campuses with a SSCE, HSSCE, diploma or degree certificates. But squandaring one after having landed one, was unheard of until now. Not any more.
Two such cases where Goan youth were on the rosters of a government department but disappeared from their work places not for days, weeks or months, but several years came to light earlier this week, which surprised many.
The two government staffers, line-helpers in the Electricity department have stayed away from work for three and four years.
Not just that. The duo have been untraceable, prompting their department to issue 'public notices' addressed to them citing their unauthorised absence from work for "prolonged period of time" and seeking their defence.
Shashank Naik, a line-helper has remained absent from work for over three years since September 2020, while the second line-helper Wilson Fernandes did not report to work for over four years since November 2019.
The department has now filed a chargesheet against the duo, the first step in the statutory process of terminating the services of a regular government servant.
The questions that arise, however, are what took the higher-ups in the Electricity Department up to three and four years to realise that two of their staffers were missing from work all these long years, that too with a job description -- line helper -- that is so essential to the department in its day-to-day functioning? How many such absentees, not just in the Electricity Department but dozens of other government offices, go unnoticed for such prolonged periods of time?
Questions that beg answers, especially now that Goa has one of the highest rates of unemployment and jobs in the government departments are much sought after.
Sawant on BJP duty in Kerala, M'rashtra
The impending Lok Sabha elections may not have been announced yet by the Election Commission of India but the adrenaline is already gushing in Chief Minister Pramod Sawant.
Over the last couple of weeks, he has been here, there and everywhere, hopping States to invigorate the saffron party's karyakatas ahead of the elections.
Earlier this week, he was in neighbouring Maharashtra adding glamour to the BJP's 'Karyakarta Samvad Melava' at Dapoli. A day prior to that, Sawant also made his appearance at a similar event in Pen and Maval in Raigad district. The same day, he was seen participating in the 'wall writing programme' the party launched nationwide in which leaders paint the lotus symbol of the party on publicly viewable walls at Karjat.
Also, a week earlier Sawant was in Kerala where he held an interaction with intellectuals and professionals from diverse backgrounds in the southernmost State which ranks at the top in literacy rates.There, he also held a meeting with the Konkani-speaking community in Kottayam.
The chief minsiter took to micro-blogging site 'X' (formerly twitter) to point out that many of them in Kottayam trace their roots to Goa. He also delved a bit into history to say that the influx of the Konkani community into Kerala dates back to the 12th Century but accelerated in the 16th century during the colonial rule of Goa by the Portuguese.
Do condoms have a role in polls?
Andhra politicos believe so!
You can trust politicians to resort to bizarre modes in their quest to catch the eye of the public, especially in an election year and the politicos of Andhra Pradesh have done just that.
Both the dominant political parties -- the ruling YSR Congress and the Opposition Telugu Desam Party (TDP) -- in the duopoly Andhra Pradesh State which is one of the few States which will also have an Assembly election simultaneously with the Lok Sabha polls, have resorted to distributing condoms with party symbols as a campaign tool.
The trend has sparked controversy and both the parties have been accusing each other of resorting to this unusual tactic to win the hearts of the voter, amidst videos of such campaigning going viral in cyberspace.
