Panaji: The AAP today said that there was none in this government who could claim with certainty the number of officials working after retirement from service. Aap convenor Elvis Gomes speaking to reporters in the company of aap leaders Valmiki Naik and Pradeep Padgaonkar said that cases of even great grand fathers still occupying chairs with fudged dates of birth were coming to notice and added that aap was throwing an open challenge to the government to prove it wrong by declaring the details of retired officials still occupying chairs causing detriment to the prospects of the younger generations.
“It is shocking that this information is not readily available . Most of them enjoying these extension are relations of ministers and hence their names will never be disclosed. Many of these oldies have obtained status of indispensable goldies, being collection agents and till the ministers get the right replacement, these are likely to remain in the seats” said Gomes
Elaborating further, Gomes said that on one hand extensions are breaking records , on the other, news jobs recruitments have been stopped reportedly awaiting CM to arrive. He said that young Goans are taken for a ride by making them stand in long queues as was seen before the Collectorates recently while the BJP functionaries make announcements at party meetings about government jobs to party workers.
Giving an example of N. N Reddy the Chief Electrical Engineer who is due to complete one year of extension next month, Gomes said that it was brought to their notice that he was being taken by the power minister for an ‘educational’ tour to Korea. “How will it help the government to teach him something in Korea when he is finally set to retire unless there is a power sharing deal to grant further extension so that the next incumbent is kept out? ” asked Gomes . He further said that the government should declare about the special qualities possessed by Reddy and other officers on extensions so that the younger officials could start learning at an early stage to be like them to earn favour with the government for extensions when their retirement time comes.
Meanwhile when reporters questioned about the cost of CCTV cameras being procured under the smart city mission, Valmiki Naik said that the Government or Smart City officials should first tell the people about their understanding of smartness and whether the DonaPaula Miramar concrete road built at an astronomical 200 crores and the inability to solve problems as simple as man made traffic congestions at casino offices along the river bank or at sharada mandir school or keeping the St. Inez Nullah choked with filth was falling within their set parameters of smartness. Challenging ex mla siddharth Kunkolienkar to give details about crime data in the city, Naik said that it was for him to state how the cameras were not expensive as compared to the proposal in Delhi which was part of the aap manifesto and duly budgeted for, unlike the grant given by the centre which Kuncolienkar wanted to blow.
