GOA has joined the national mainstream by having scams galore. One of these is the cash for government jobs scam which came to light when Goa Congress chief Amit Patkar showed several letters given to those desperate for government jobs in the Urban Development Town & Country Planning Department.
Hundreds of Goans were swindled in this cash-for-jobs scam. The Goa police registered 20 cases across the state — including 12 in North Goa district and eight in South Goa district — and arrested 19 persons for promising gullible Goans secure government jobs in exchange for cash.
The scam also saw a government employee committing suicide after his name figured in the case. Over the past few weeks, a new case has been registered almost every day, with a maximum of three FIRs each at Ponda, Agassaim and Bicholim police stations.
Among those arrested include police personnel and senior government employees.

VISHWAJIT RANE’S PORTFOLIO
AS we all know, the Urban Development, Town & Country Planning and Health Departments, all of which are part of Vishwajit Rane’s portfolio. Now, Mr Patkar, addressing a press conference, alleged that these fraudulent letters were part of efforts to extort money from aspirants, adding the offer and appointment letters have signatures of the Heads of Departments (HoDs).
Government jobs are lucrative because even if you are incompetent but honest you will survive and retire with a fabulous pension. All you have to do is report on time for duty and leave on time after doing some work or sometimes not doing much work between 10 am and 5.30 pm.
However, this will not suffice in the private sector where performance is rigorously monitored and everybody is on contract for two years or less. And if the private firm is not doing well, everybody loses their jobs. Only the CEO may change the name of his firm or try out something else to make a living.
After the Congress spokesman levelled these allegations, Mr Rane, issued a media statement, saying, “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.” Mr 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 & Drug Administration.
“It shows the lengths to which individuals are going to misrepresent government authorities and mislead the public,” Mr 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,” Mr Rane said. “Steps should be taken to ensure the police investigate and address this misconduct,” the Minister said.

CM HEADS HOME DEPARTMENT
SOME of the government jobs which are sought after are those in the police force. The Goa Police comes under the home department which is headed by the chief minister. The chief secretary is in-charge of the home department. Puneet Kumar Goel was earlier in-charge and although shunted out after he got into a controversy by buying land on which an illegal bungalow was built, he was by-and-large approachable and fair to everybody.
Now, local MLAs and ministers give letters to handicapped persons and others whom they want to oblige. Some of these letters may be sufficient for a youth to get a job as a lowly constable in the Goa Police after going through a medical examination and a perfunctory test of logic and writing.
Once in the police department, some of these constables are eager to pay back the favour they have received from their local MLA. If there are illegal activities they look the other way or are directed to look the other way by their superiors.
For example, loud music is played well past the curfew in the north Goa beach belt. But a few phone calls by a notorious minister known for his links to the underworld was sufficient for the police inspector to ignore all the complaints about loud music being played well past the curfew time.
Wikipedia has even published this minister’s name as the employer of a NSA detenue who has entered politics. But the government is least bothered about these things.
That is why the Town & Country Planning department which has a dubious reputation for conversions of land to settlement zone is again in the news for the wrong reasons. Land and crime are linked like an infant is linked to its mother through the placenta.