Cong alleges job scam in Goa, minister asks HoDs to file police complaints

Goa minister Vishwajit Rane on Saturday asked top officials of departments under him to file police complaints over alleged forged appointment and offer letters. The directive came after Goa Congress chief Amit Patkar showed several such letters given to aspirants for jobs in Urban Development, Town and Country Planning and Health departments, all of which are part of Rane's portfolio.  Patkar, addressing a press conference, said these were part of efforts to extort money from aspirants, adding the offer and appointment letters have signatures of head of departments (HoDs). Responding to the allegations, Rane, in a media statement, said, "Forgery of government officials' signatures is a criminal offence. All department heads have been instructed to file FIRs against individuals involved in producing and distributing these fraudulent documents."  Rane claimed one of the letters had a forged stamp of the forest department and that it falsely implicated official Jyoti Sardessai, who is actually a former director of the Food and Drug Administration. It shows the lengths to which individuals are going to misrepresent government authorities and mislead the public, Rane said in the statement, adding strict action would be taken against such defamatory activities.  The circulation of a call recording by an individual allegedly offering to sell government jobs was intended to damage the reputation of the minister and departments involved, Rane said. "Steps should be taken to ensure the police investigate and address this misconduct," the minister said.  The cash for government jobs "scam" came to light in the state after six persons were arrested for allegedly taking bribes, following which Chief Minister Pramod Sawant asked people to come forward and file complaints in case they have been duped in this manner. Earlier in the day, Patkar, addressing a press conference, said Sawant should clarify if vacancies will be filled through the Staff Selection Commission (SSC) or individual departments.  He also said the Congress would petition Governor PS Sreedharan Pillai over these irregularities. "The state government must issue a white paper on the availability of jobs. These vacancies must be filled through SSC to curb such scams. A high-level commission should be constituted to probe the issue," Patkar said. The BJP government in Goa allowed vacancies to lapse so that they could be filled on a contractual basis, he alleged.