Malim-Betim (Goa): In what appears to be a major fraud which was pushed under the carpet by State fisheries department, total Rs 2.04 crore were availed by the non-member fishermen at Malim-Betim jetty itself.
The fraud which was noticed in the internal inquiry report of the department and was pushed into cold storage has come to light during the inspection by Fisheries Minister Vinod Palyekar.
The Minister has asked the department’s director Sharmila Monteiro to submit a white paper by May 08 which will also speak about the fraud and action to be taken against the officials involved in it.
While the fraud at Malim-Betim jetty itself is to the tune of Rs 2.04 crore, one can imagine what would be the total amount considering the jetties across the state. There are seven fishing jetties in Goa.
The internal inquiry report which was sourced by The Neutral View team through its investigative journalism has opened up a box of worms for the fisheries department officials. Everything seems to be fishy.
“The confidential inquiry report revealed that as many as 55 boat owners who are not the members of fishing cooperative society were enjoying all the facilities and benefits exclusively to be availed by the members.”
State fisheries department has been allotting subsidies on diesel and other facilities to the fishermen who are members of the fishing cooperative society so that the benefit reaches only to eligible persons, a senior fishing department official said.
“The amount of subsidy availed by these 55 non members since 2013-14 till 2015-16 is approximately Rs 2.04 crore.”
“It is revealed that the Directorate of Fisheries is silent over allotment of space, stall and ice boxes which are supposed to be given only to the traditional fishermen.”
The internal investigation had also revealed that out of 27 fish retailing stalls only five were operated by local fishermen while rest were given on lease or illegally sub-let to the non-members of the society who are mostly migrants from Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Kerala.
Now we are waiting for the minister to hand over the investigation to anti corruption bureau so that all the rot in the department is exposed.
Team TNV
