NGO warns anti-goa officials to quit or face wrath

Panaji, Aug 18 (UNI) Goan NGO Utt Goenkara today called upon government officers, who cannot protect the interests of the state and its people, to immediately quit their jobs or face the wrath of the 'Aam Aadmi'.

Addressing a press conference in the city, Utt Goenkara spokesman Advocate Aires Rodrigues alleged certain officers were acting with vested interests for their short term gains in connivance with certain politicians to the detriment of Goa and its people.

Demanding that outstanding individuals with high integrity should be inducted into government service, Advocate Rodrigues has condemned the attempts by the Goa Government to re-employ Mr R Kothandaraman as Secretary Legislature on contract basis after his voluntary retirement comes into force on September 7, 2008.

Advocate Rodrigues disclosed that Mr Kothandaraman, who is currently in Goa on deputation from the Lok Sabha Secretariat, was charge-sheeted two months ago for threatening the Secretary General of the Lok Sabha Secretariat Mr P D T Achary and is also facing an inquiry for anti-government activity on a complaint filed by the Governor of Nagaland, where Mr Kothandaraman was posted earlier.

He said that Mr Kothandaraman, who was earlier posted in Goa from 2000 to 2002 when Mr Pratapsingh Rane was the Speaker of the Goa Legislative Assembly, prematurely made a sudden exit from Goa after being exposed in an alleged extra-marital affair with a staff member.

Advocate Rodrigues has also stated that Utt Goenkara is very concerned at the hurried and high-handed manner in which the government is trying to illegally appoint Mr Ashok Menon as full fledged Director of Fire and Emergency Services.

He has demanded a thorough probe and verification into all the educational certificates submitted by Mr Menon, in particular the BA degree from Madurai Kamraj University of April 2000.

Advocate Rodrigues stated that Mr Menon had not obtained permission from the government to appear for the BA examination and neither do the records show that he had applied for any leave to answer the examination, which was purportedly held at Tirupati in Andhra Pradesh in April 2000.

He alleged that the services of Mr Menon as Divisional officer in the Directorate of Fire and Emergency services were terminated by an order dated December 22, 2003 as his performance was found to be unsatisfactory.

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