Panjim: Slamming the BJP government of Goa over the Cash-for-Jobs scam, AAP Working President & National Spokesperson Valmiki Naik accused the Sawant Sarkar of hiding facts and misdirecting the investigation.
“In a reply to an LAQ by AAP MLA Engr. Cruz Silva in March 2025, the government stated that the total amount involved in the Cash-for-Jobs FIRs was Rs. 9.25 crores. However, Pooja Naik has stated that she herself has given money to the tune of nearly Rs. 17.68 crores. She is just one accused out of 45 FIRs registered under this scam. So the actual total amount involved in this scam is much more than the 9.25 crores stated in the government reply. Why is the government hiding the true scale of this scam despite so-called investigations for nearly a year?” Naik demanded to know.
Naik also criticised Chief Minister Pramod Sawant for using the police machinery for media management and said that a fresh FIR cannot be filed in an existing case unless there is a new crime or new evidence that changes the circumstances of the first FIR.
“Pooja Naik has already stated that she named the minister and officials in her statement taken under the original FIR. So what is the new evidence that the CM possesses that warrants such a direction to file a second FIR in the same case, and why does the police need more time?” Naik asked.
Naik stated that earlier the term “jobs scam” used to refer to private agents scamming desperate youth with promises of lucrative jobs in foreign countries, and then disappearing, leaving the youth with neither a job nor the money.
“It is a national shame for Goa that our elected government is embroiled in a similar scam involving ministers and government officials, which has left our youth with neither a job nor their money,” Naik said.
