Canacona: Canacona Block Congress Committee has demanded action against the officials involved in largescale corruption at Polem Check Post.
The Canacona Congress Block Committee has submitted memorandum to various authorities demanding action in the matter.
The Committee President Pralay Bhagat has said that police and excise personnels intentionally keep the gates of the check post open all the time to allow free movements of vehicles engaged in transportation of liquor, alcohol (spirit), sand, formalin laced fish, various types of drugs and smuggling of other banned items without any obstacles.
He pointed out that a vehicle allowed to pass by Polem check post was recently detained at Majali Check post in Karnataka for illegally carrying Alcohol (spirit).
“There were many such incidents reported in the past. Again the government staff who are expected to check documents of vehicles, properly inspect transported goods, always neglect their duties by accepting bribes,” he said.
Bhagat said that the corruption is taking place in these departments, as Prime Minister Narendra Modi has himself said that corruption is the biggest challenge before the country.
“By exposing these corruption taking place in Goa on border, we want to tell Prime Minister to intervene and start eradicating corruption from Goa, which they couldn’t do in last eight years,” he added.
The Congress party has pointed out that the CCTV cameras installed at gates are non-operational from many years & the govt. are not taking any action to repair it or install new CCTV cameras, thereby allowing unabated corruption at the Check Post. Due to corruption at Check Post, artificially ripened fruits, vegetables & other altered/unhygienic eatables which are dangerous for Goans are coming into the state easily.
The opposition party has also submitted in detail the truth about various govt. departments posted at Polem Check Post. The Police staff deputed at Check Post are found physically unfit and not equipped with proper arms and ammunition to tackle any emergency situations.
Transportation of sand by the Sand Mafia from Karnataka is allowed freely even after the blanket banned by the Supreme Court. The number of raids & the quantity of narcotics seized by the govt. exposed the checking of police at Check Posts. Migrants and people with criminal background get easy access by road in the State of Goa due to lethargy of Police.
The RTO officials at the Polem Check Post allow free entry of goods carriers without checking documents by taking bribes. Also, heavy commercial vehicles with overweight, extra heights are allowed entry which damages roads, bridges in Goa & which had been involved in many grave accidents in the past. But the same RTO Staff shows extra enthusiasm to unnecessarily harass tourists, small vendors and common people under one or another pretext. We observed how RTO fined vehicles owners & how they accept money from people to avoid bookings. It made ample clear that collection of haftas at the Check Post is a big racket & it involves all, from bottom to top in corruption.
The lab opened by the FDA at the Check Post is a big jumla as when we tried to interact with the officials to explain to us the procedure involved in checking imported fish, they refused to do so. Thus, by refusing to disclose the process of inspection, the FDA has raised serious doubts on the availability of formalin laced fish in the State. There is no check on the quality of Vegetables & Fruits transported in the State of Goa.
The Excise staff deputed at the Check Post are harassing common people who carry one or two bottles for personal consumption but allow illegal transport of liquor/ alcohol (spirit) by making settings.
Considering the seriousness of illegalities, the Canacona Congress Parivar through its representation demands the following on urgent basis;
