log on to thegoan.net @thegoanonline TUESDAY FEBRUARY 13, 2024 GOA Facebook.com/thegoan The Goan E-Paper (Playstore/IOS) 15 pages PRICE ` 10 PANAJI MARGAO GOA VOLUME IX, NO. 236 MMC approves `  .73 crore tender 6 for door-to-door waste collection 2 GOA Panchayat , residents upset over new Agonda TRC site 3 Instagram.com/thegoanonline RNI: GOAENG/2015/65729 9 INFO Calming ingredients for your inflamed skin SPORTS Rahul ruled out of third Test, Padikkal called up as cover 15 BJP zeroes in on 5 candidates Now, drama over housing between Tawadkar, Gaude for South Goa Lok Sabha seat AFTER FEUD OVER CULTURAL PROGRAMMES… NAMES OF TAWADKAR, KAMAT, KAVLEKAR, DAMU, SAWAIKAR DISCUSSED; TO BE SENT TO PARLIAMENTARY COMMITTEE THE GOAN I NETWORK PANAJI The BJP Parliamentary Committee is likely to announce candidates for both parliamentary seats in Goa after the Election Commission of India’s (ECI) notification regarding the Lok Sabha election dates. But while the party has remained tight-lipped, particularly on the names for South Goa, its State Election Team’s marathon meeting on Monday discussed five probable candidates for the district.  Reliable sources told The Goan that the names of Speaker Ramesh Tawadkar, former CM Digambar Kamat, ex-minister Chandrakant Kavlekar, former South MP Narendra Sawaikar, and Damu Naik are agreed upon, which will be submitted to the Parliamentary Committee. Interestingly, Naik’s inclusion comes ten days after the IN SHORT >> GIDC to lease plots at Verna, Latambarcem PANAJI: Goa Industrial Development Corporation will lease out 20 plots admeasuring 2,51,791 sq mts at Verna Industrial Estate and 27 plots admeasuring 38,854 sq mts at Latambarcem Industrial Estate through e-auction. Of the 20 plots, 4 are to be leased out for establishment of commercial undertaking and 16 plots are to be leased out for establishment of industrial undertakings. Agriculture policy by March: Minister PANAJI: Agriculture Minister Ravi Naik has said that the Agriculture Policy of the State is likely to be ready by March. The core committee held a marathon meeting to finalise the insight reports of the 5 subcommittees centered around 36 focus areas. Babita set to occupy MMC deputy’s chair >> See pg 2 WEATHER >> Max: 33 C Min: 22 C Humidity: 85% DIGAMBAR SAYS NOT INTERESTED MARGAO: As reports of the BJP shortlisting candidates came in on Monday, former chief minister Digambar Kamat said he has told the BJP leadership in Delhi that he is not interested in contesting the South Goa Lok Sabha seat. “I have conveyed to the BJP leadership that I am not interested in contesting the LS election. I would have considered the offer if the opportunity had come to me around 10 years ago, he said.  While ex-South Goa MP Narendra Sawaikar feigned ignorance that the party has shortlisted his name for the South Goa seat, ex-Dy chief minister Chandrakant Kavlekar and party shortlisted the first four names. The probable candidates were also present at the meeting.  For North Goa, the high command has not indicated any change and as a result the former two-time Fatorda MLA Damu Naik said they would not shy away from taking up the responsibility entrusted by the party leadership. The four BJP leaders had descended at the Margao railway station to bid bon voyage to Ram bhakts heading to Ayodhya to seek blessings of Lord Ram. When the media approached Kavlekar for his comments, he said he will accept the responsibility of contesting the Lok Sabha election from South Goa. “From every platform, I have expressed my wish to contest the Lok Sabha election. If the party leadership gives me the ticket, I will accept the responsibility, Kavlekar stated. sitting MP and Union Minister Shripad Naik could be the sole choice.  “BJP will win both the seats. Candidates are not finalised and it is for the Parliamentary Committee to announce these names... It will be after the (ECI) notification,” BJP State President Sadanand Shet Tanavade told The Goan after the meeting presided over by BJP Goa Prabhari Ashish Sood and Chief Minister Pramod Panel focuses on ST, SC vacancies, moots survey Records show over 1,000 backlog vacancies in depts THE GOAN I NETWORK PANAJI Taking cognizance of failure of various government departments, aided institutes and autonomous bodies to maintain Post Based Roster regarding reservation to Scheduled Caste (SC) and Scheduled Tribe (ST) communities, the SC & ST Commission has urged State government to carry out special drives to identify the backlog vacancies existing within a period of six months. As per records,  there are more than 1073 backlog vacancies in various government departments, aided institutions/autonomous bodies etc. The Commission, in its recommendation to the government, pointed out that inspite of efforts made by the government to fill up the backlog vacancies, posts could not be filled due to non-availability of suitable candidates or not coming within the normal zone or extended zone to fill the specialised posts in de- CANACONA If the rift between Art and Culture Minister Govind Gaude and Speaker Ramesh Tawadkar has widened over cultural events in Tawadkar’s Canacona constituency, the political one-upmanship has now shifted to Gaude’s Priol constituency. On the very day that organisers announced the cancellation of the 5th Kala Utsav (Art Festival) 2024 which was to have been inaugurated by Gaude at Indrawada-Gaondongrim, sources said Tawadkar had gone to Marcela on Saturday and announced his plans to replicate his Shram Dham housing project for the needy in Priol constituency. According to sources, Tawadkar addressed a meeting with BJP workers of Priol constituency at Marcela and said he had plans to build seven new houses under his Shram Dham project to needy people. Sources also added that the meeting was attended by a leader opposed to Gaude who Speaker Ramesh Tawadkar addresses a meeting of BJP workers in Priol constituency on Saturday. had contested assembly elections in the past, after being denied the BJP ticket. When contacted, Tawadkar said he had gone to Priol constituency for personal reasons. “At that time, party workers there put before us a proposal for houses to be built for poor families of Priol constituency under the Shram Dham project. Hence, I decided to build houses under this project for the needy citizens,” said Tawadkar. “Under the Shram Dham project, houses have been constructed for 20 needy families in my Canacona constituency so far and we plan to take the project across the State. We have decided to build 100 such houses during this year”. “We have even got requests for Maharashtra for houses under the Shram Dham project. The sarpanch of a village in Sangli-Miraj in Maharashtra has requested us to build a house for two orphaned siblings of his village under >Continued on P5 THE GOAN I NETWORK not signed by the appointing authority or other authorized officer etc. “Instances have also come to the fore where the roster was not inspected by the Liaison Officers,” the Commission said. “The Commission therefore recommends that the Government may carry out special drives to identify the backlog vacancies existing in each >Continued on P5 >Continued on P5 KEY OBSERVATIONS OF THE COMMISSION THE GOAN I NETWORK Pilgrimage train to Ayodhya flagged off from Vasco VASCO The first special ‘Gram Parikrama Yatra’ Pilgrimage Train carrying devotees from Goa to Ayodhya was flagged off from the Vasco railway station on Monday night. The train to Darshan Nagar station in Ayodhya was flagged off by Rajya Sabha MP Sadanand Shet Tanavade, Social Welfare Minister Shubhash Phaldessai, Vasco MLA Krishna Salkar, Mormugao MLA Sankalp Amonkar, Mormugao Municipal Council (MMC) Chairperson Girish Borker and others. Speaking to media, Tanavade said the special train carrying Goan devotees would halt only across two other railway stations in Goa, before proceeding directly to Ayodhya. “We have flagged off the train from here and it will now halt at Margao and Thivim railway stations where the Chief Minister Pramod Sawant will be present. This train will reach Ayodhya on February 15 early morning and the CM along with ministers and MLAs will reach Ayodhya. „„Roster prescribed for giving effect to order on SC & ST reservation not maintained „„Entries not made immediately on appointments of officials „„Instances have also come to fore where roster was not inspected by Liaison Officers „„Recommends special drives to identify backlog vacancies existing in each department within six months „„Take appropriate steps to fill up backlog and current vacancies „„No depts, govt aided institutions, undertakings etc be permitted to fill direct and promotional posts if Post Based Roster is not updated partments like, agriculture, animal husbandry etc. In its report, the Commission informed that during its review of maintenance of Post Based Roster and filling up the backlog vacancies, it was observed that in some departments, roster prescribed for giving effect to the order regarding reservation to SC and ST was not maintained properly or entries were not made immediately on appointments of the officials or entries was Sawant in Panaji on Tuesday.  Tanavade refused to divulge further details of the meeting, reiterating that their focus is not on candidates but party symbol being Lotus.  Amidst ongoing election-related meetings across Goa, the party is set to formally launch election campaign with the opening of its election offices for both the districts.  Tanavade said that their South Goa election office in Margao (in front of the KTC Bus Stand) will be inaugurated at 3.30 pm on Tuesday while the North district’s office at Mapusa will be inaugurated at 10 am on Wednesday.  “We have completed the Gaon Chalo drive wherein close to 1,500 karyakartas covered over 700 booths on a single day on Sunday. Moreover, our community meetings are also underway wherein CM and all our leaders including office bearers are actively a part of it,” he added.  Tawadkar visits Priol, pledges Shram Dham houses SCENT OF A ‘KING’: A woman picks a mango – the first of the season – at the Panaji market on Monday. Prices of the mankurad variety have dropped from Rs 7,000 per dozen to Rs 4,000.  Narayan Pissurlenkar Qatar releases 8 ex-Indian navy men jailed over spying charges PTI NEW DELHI Qatar has released eight jailed former Indian Navy personnel and seven of them returned home on Monday, in what is seen as a major diplomatic victory for India that came nearly three-and-half months after a Qatari court handed them death sentence that was subsequently commuted to varying jail terms. Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra said Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself constantly supervised all the developments in the case and has never shied away from any initiatives that would ensure the return of the Indians. The seven Indian nationals reached Delhi by a private air- line at around 2:35 am. At a media briefing, the foreign secretary announced that Modi will travel to Qatari capital Doha on Wednesday after concluding his two-day trip to the United Arab Emirates (UAE), but indicated that the trip was long conceived. The foreign secretary, >Continued on P5 651 await turn for govt jobs Zooming ahead! Nearly 100% rise in new rent-a-bikes ECO SURVEY: FACTS & FIGURES on ‘compassionate’ grounds THE GOAN I NETWORK THE GOAN I NETWORK PANAJI Over the last nearly five years since April 2020, the State government has taken on its roster in its different departments as many as 233 persons on compassionate grounds but is yet to take a decision on the applications of more than double those numbers, 651 to be precise, who are seeking government jobs on those same grounds. Employment on compassionate grounds is given to those whose either parent or spouse has died while in regular government service and fits within the rules in terms of the recruitment rules for those positions. GPSC process for selecting individuals for Director of IPHB and Chief Electrical Engineer is on but nonavailability of a suitable candidate despite advertising five times has left both vacancies unfilled with incumbents officiating on extensions According to information supplied by Chief  Minister  Pramod Sawant in the recently  concluded budget session of the Goa  legislative assembly, his government has suitably placed 233 such persons mostly in non-gazetted positions of Multi-tasking Staff (MTS), lower division clerks (LDCs) and Upperr Division Clerks (UDCs). However, in response to an unstarred query posed by Congress-turned-BJP MLA from Siolim, Delilah Lobo, Sawant said applications from 651 such persons whose kin have died in service are still pending since April 2020. Meanwhile, the government has recruited 46 persons as junior  scale officers through processes undertaken and names recommended by the Goa Public Service Commission in the last  five years -- two in 2020, seven the following year and 16 in 2022. Last year the government recruited as many as 20 >Continued on P5 PANAJI he State Transport Department has recorded a massive surge of 99.33 percent in the registration of new rent-a-bikes over the past three years, indicating a growing preference among tourists for rental vehicles. Not just this, with every household owning a vehicle, the public transport system has taken a hit with a decline of 31.56 per cent in its registrations, the Economic Survey reveals.   “The number of vehicles registered under the category “Transport - Motorcycle for hire” has increased by 99.33 percent in 2022- 23 as compared to 2019-20. This is due to an increase in the number of tourists using rent-a-bike facilities. Whereas under the T category “Transport, Buses and Minibuses including KTC” the number of registrations has decreased by 31.56 per cent,” it states. As per the report tabled during the just concluded Legislative Assembly, 29,681 motorcycles for hire were registered as on December 2023 followed by 54,754 goods vehicles, 32,687 taxis and 5,987 buses, minibuses including KTC/government buses. In addition to these, 3,754 are rickshaws registered during this period while 624 vehicles are in the ‘others’ category. In all, the number of two-wheelers including privately-owned registered till December 2023 stands at 7,94,021 while 3,31,644 are private cars and jeeps and 3581 are in ‘others’ category. As per the report, the grand total of non-transport vehicles is 12,56,733. With the government promoting EV vehicles, this number has also shown a tremendous increase during the year 2022-23 as com- „„Number of two-wheelers including privately-owned registered till December 2023 stands at 7,94,021 „„3,754 rickshaws also registered „„Private cars, jeeps accounted for 3,31,644 registrations „„Registration of buses, minibuses including KTC has decreased by 31.56 per cent „„Transition to green energy saw registration of electric vehicles also zoom „„1,35,455 driving licenses were issued (new and renewal) for the last five years pared to 2019-20. The data reveals that while only 39 EVs were registered in the 201920 FY, the numbers rose from 230 in 2020-21 FY to 1,816 and 7,093 in the subsequent years in 2021-22 and 2022-23 respectively. “The transition to Green energy/ clean energy and efforts of the government towards it has made it possible,” reads the report. Further, the number of driving licenses issued (New and Renewal) for the last five years is 1,35,455 of which a maximum of 31,998 was issued in 2022-23 while in 2023-24 (as on December 2023) the number stands at 23,668.