India News | Goa Cash-for-jobs Scam: Cong Demands White Paper on Recruitment Since 2019, Probe by Committee
Get latest articles and stories on India at LatestLY. The Congress on Wednesday hit out at the BJP over the alleged cash-for-government jobs scam in Goa and demanded a white paper on recruitments done after 2019 as well as a probe by a high-powered committee under the supervision of a retired High Court judge.
New Delhi, Nov 13 (PTI) The Congress on Wednesday hit out at the BJP over the alleged cash-for-government jobs scam in Goa and demanded a white paper on recruitments done after 2019 as well as a probe by a high-powered committee under the supervision of a retired High Court judge.
The opposition party's attack comes a day after a woman worker of the BJP was arrested in connection with the scam and the saffron party clarified that it would dissociate itself from any member of the party found to be involved in the fraud.
The cash for government jobs "scam" came to light in the state after six persons were arrested for allegedly taking bribes following which Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant asked people to come forward and file complaints in case they have been duped in this manner.
Earlier on Tuesday, the Ponda Police arrested Shruti Prabhugaonkar, a woman worker of the saffron party, for allegedly duping people under the pretext of providing government jobs, an official said.
Goa Police have so far arrested 18 people in connection with the scam.
Addressing a press conference along with former Goa Congress chief Girish Chodankar, Congress leader Alok Sharma said, "Just like the youth are being cheated for the last 10 years, a jobs scandal has come to light in Goa. Modi ji had said – 'na khaunga, na khane doonga' (will neither indulge in corruption nor let others do it) but today the situation is such that whenever there is rigging in any examination, whether it is the Vyapam scam of Madhya Pradesh, scam in the Uttarakhand assembly, 22 paper leak cases in Gujarat, jobs scam in Haryana, UPSC or NEET scam, there is one thing common factor -- they are all somehow connected to the BJP."
"Our allegation is that in all the recruitments done after 2019, there has been a process scam in which the correct procedure was not followed. This scam of Goa is exactly like the Vyapam scam of Madhya Pradesh. All the people who have been arrested in this scam have pictures with BJP leaders," he added.
Sharma claimed the BJP is trying to cover up the matter while Vyapam-2 is going on in Goa.
"There has been a scam of hundreds of crores in the name of 'cash-for-jobs' in Goa. So far, about 20 FIRs have been registered in this case and about several people have been arrested," he said.
Posing the Congress' questions, Sharma asked why was recruitment not started through the Public Service Commission between 2019-24.
"Will the upcoming recruitments be done through PSC or any other amendment will be made? What is the relationship of the chief minister's wife with those who are being arrested? The CM should answer this," he said.
The Congress demands that a white paper should be issued stating which recruitments were done after 2019, on which posts, to whom were they given when and how many extensions were given, Sharma said.
"How many recruitments were done from 2019-24? What was the process? When did the recruitment advertisements come? What was the selection process? What was the date of the exam, interview - all the data should be made public," he said.
The Congress leader demanded that the entire matter be investigated by a high-powered committee under the supervision of a retired High court judge.
When will the ED take cognizance of this 'cash-for-jobs' case? he asked.
In his remarks, Chodankar said the Staff Selection Commission was formed in 2019, but was not implemented and instead all recruitments were done by departments.
"The question arises that why were the recruitments between 2019 to 2024 not done under the Staff Selection Commission? Therefore, the chief minister of Goa comes first in the circle of questions. He should answer the youth of the state," Chodankar said.
In order to carry out the corruption of 'cash-for-jobs', injustice has been done to SC-ST, OBC as well, he added. PTIK
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