Jobs, drugs, and the lure of a better future
The truth behind the job 'scam' the Sunburn battle continues and a book recommendation in this week's edition!
Hi folks,
We meet again after a brief hiatus. Yes, I know that I had decided to take a break last week since I was out of town, but then decided to send in a small piece anyway given the whole hullabaloo about the state of Goa’s tourism. That’s still something I want to talk about; however, it is going to have to wait since several other important things have since emerged, primarily the ongoing 'cash for jobs' scam currently unfolding in the state.
Besides, Goa’s tourism—its problems and counter problems—are a perennial issue, and frankly, anytime is a good time to talk about them, so allow me to focus on the one issue that has been crying out for an explanation for a while now.
Jobs, drugs, and the lure of a better future
It’s something I’ve been trying to wrap my head around. Just how big is the cash for jobs scam? Who are these people being arrested—are they connected to any politicians or any political party? If so, how come they are being arrested and not enjoying immunity like the rest of corrupt folks do?
Is one ‘gang’ of the ‘jobs mafia’ targeting another faction and having their foot soldiers arrested so that they now have complete control of the territory?
As I struggled to find answers (which happens once in a while), I asked around and got a few (but not all) answers that will hopefully try and explain what is happening.
Firstly, let me try and summarise the issue. The Goa Police (very helpfully) decided to hold a press conference on Saturday evening to update the media on the status of the cash-for-job arrests currently underway.
According to the statistics released by the department, there are 29 cases registered so far—17 in north Goa and 12 in south Goa—and 33 people have been arrested on charges of cheating and duping victims with the promise of getting them (state) government jobs. There have also been arrests of those who promised seekers jobs in the Railways and in the Indian Navy at the Karwar base. The total amount of money the ‘victims’ lost is believed to be in the region of Rs 5 crore for the south district alone. The figure for the north district was not disclosed.
Two women—Pooja Naik, a resident of Old Goa, and Deepashree Mhato, a resident of Amona, Sanquelim—are involved in the three cases (of cheating) and two cases, while the others are believed to be involved in one case each. The monies were collected over the years—some as far back as ten yearsago.
Which brings me to my next question...
Why are they being arrested now? In fact, how come they are being arrested at all?
To help answer that, allow me to draw an analogy—one that involves the sale of banned narcotics. Imagine you are a druggie looking for a fix or to try something out for the first time. There are two types of peddlers you will usually encounter: one who will sell you the genuine stuff (or some version of it) or one who will cheat you by selling you some powdered Hajmola candy mixed with table salt, take your money, and run. There’s also a third who will sell the genuine stuff to some customers and fake stuff to others, but for the sake of simplicity, let’s leave this third guy out of the picture.
What are you going to do if you get conned into buying the fake stuff? Go to the cops and tell them you tried to buy drugs and got cheated. I didn’t think so.
Over time, the genuine guys will gain a reputation, while the fake ones will get found out and meet the long fist of the mob.
It’s a similar thing playing out in Goa’s cash for jobs racket. Agents, who once upon a time had earned a reputation and trust by having successfully secured jobs for certain candidates back in the day, tried to continue the business they once succeeded at, but thanks to changing political equations over the years and interministerial fights, getting jobs for their clients became increasingly difficult.
The Chief Minister himself admitted that one of the accused women approached him directly with a request for a job for another—to that extent, these ‘agents’ were indeed trying to deliver on their promises.
“No political connection...”
One of the most replayed scenes (figuratively speaking) of the Goa Police press conference was when the DGP claimed that no political connection has been established between those arrested and the politicians on whose behalf they claim to be acting or collecting money for.
And you know what? And you probably will not agree with me, but I think he’s right. Think about it for a minute...
If they indeed had political connections, why would they be arrested in the first place? It is because they fell out of favour with the political class and consequently could no longer deliver on their promises that the number of disgruntled customers grew angrier and louder, which has led to these complaints and arrests.
The ‘genuine’ money collectors with the actual connections and who are part of a politician’s team usually deliver on their promises or come with ministerial guarantees that they will be: Have you ever heard of a person who successfully got a job after paying for it go on to file a complaint? I hardly think so.
But that still leaves the question: in the small world that Goa is, why did people give them money -- loads of it—without having some sort of assurance that the job would get done? Surely they had some recommendation to do so?
Is it foolishness or desperation?
Who’s paying for jobs and why?
A perusal of the list of complaints registered reveals that the highest number of cases have been registered at the Bicholim Police Station (five), followed by Panjim, Vasco (four each), Agacaim, Ponda (three each), and Porvorim, Canacona, and Mardol (two each).
Also notice which police stations are absent from the list. There are many, but several stand out—Pernem and Valpoi, for example, where no cases are registered. Similarly, nothing in the talukas of Quepem, Sanguem, just one case for the whole of Salcete (Margao), where a complaint was filed against a woman for duping a candidate on the promise of getting a job in the Indian Navy.
And why are people, especially from the hinterlands, paying money? Because they know that, that’s pretty much the norm if you want a government job. The fact is the only mistake these desperate job seekers have made is in giving money to the wrong set of people—like being conned into buying from a fraud peddler—which can happen when you’re desperate or not in a position to tell the difference and thus liable to be taken advantage of.
Going by the complaints, people are paying lakhs of rupees for the job of a peon.
If anything, it reveals the stark reality of the state’s unemployment problem and how corrupt things have to be for genuine, honest folk from poor families and marginalised communities to genuinely believe that this is the way things are and the only way they are going to be.
Still more questions (and some answers)
There are other questions too: why are so many (11 of 33) of the accused women? Did the accused actually help some candidates secure jobs? If so, through whom? What about the audio files that are circulating in which certain ministers are heard speaking about out-of-turn jobs or in which certain accused have been heard name-dropping certain high-level ministers in government?
Besides, is it only an offence to take money and not deliver on the promised jobs? What about those who bribe their way and get recruited—is that not an offence? Or what about those ministers and MLAs handing out jobs to their own constituents in exchange for votes?
Unfortunately, I don’t have answers for these queries for the moment (nor should you expect any), although I do have one final point to make on this.
Why the haste?
Remember when Goa state Congress chief Amit Patkar released an audio in which one of the accused claimed proximity to a certain ‘Vishwajit’ while promising a caller a job?
Well, it turns out that for some reason, Health Minister Vishwajit Rane reacted ultra defensively to the said press conference, claiming, via a statement to the media, that “the Cyber Crime Division has been instructed to conduct a detailed inquiry into the specifics of this call recording, including the exact time and date it was made,” and that he would actively pursue this matter (with the DGP) after a “formal request” for a thorough investigation, alongside threats of legal action against Patkar if he fails to substantiate his claims.
If you know Vishwajit Rane, you would know that these are all empty words, and none of them mean anything at all beyond representing a combative response to the Congress allegations.
But that’s not all. The day after the Congress press conference, several MLAs of the BJP, including senior MLAs like former Chief Minister Digambar Kamat, released statements claiming that Vishwajit Rane was not one who would take money in exchange for jobs.
This is of course very believable. The real question is: Was there ever a doubt about it that these MLAs needed to come out and vocally deny it? If not, then why did they do it? And why did the MLAs only defend Vishwajit Rane and not the chief minister or any other ruling party functionary facing allegations of selling jobs? Take a long, hard look at things, and perhaps you will find some answers.
Question of Cities
This isn’t some open-ended rhetorical question that I’m throwing to you, but that’s the name of an online journal dedicated to being a “forum for nature, people, and sustainability.”
This weekend they have dedicated an entire issue to Goa, and it features articles by noted researcher and author of the Great Goa Land Grab, Solano da Silva, and another by Joanna Lobo on what growing up in Goa was like and how that’s now at risk, as well as an extensive interview with Goa Foundation Director Claude Alvares. Do check out the whole edition and some of their other stories here. It’s worth a read.
The Sunburn silence
As you may have heard, the latest news is that the year-ending EDM music festival Sunburn’s latest choice of location is in Dhargal, not far from the new International Airport at Mopa and by the side of the highway.
The choice of location led to a chorus of protests by people from the localities and villages around the venue, but it has gone somewhat silent since then.
Does this mean that the protests have been neutralised or that there is a resignation among protesters and their leaders that they won’t be able to muster enough numbers to counter it? There’s of course still time, but do keep a keen eye on how this one plays out, if anything for a lesson on how to (or how not to) run an effective protest movement.
A book recommendation!
It’s been a while since I last recommended a book via this newsletter, and it’s about time I did one. Thankfully for me, publisher Frederick Noronha and his publishing house Goa, 1556, last week formally launched a compilation of folktales from Goa edited by Sharmila Pais.
You can watch some of the authors speaking about their writing during the launch (in three parts), here, here, and here, but more than that, if this is something that interests you, head to your nearest bookshop and pick up a copy.
That’s all I have for you this week. Hope you enjoyed reading this week’s edition of my newsletter as much as I did writing it. Make sure you interact, comment or write in, should you have something, anything to say.
As always, please share and help spread the word. Until next week, then. Tchau!
Hi Gerard wonderful read.
The cash for jobs scam was put so well . It made it a pleasure to read .
Anyways coming from Anjuna , we would like to share that it is not silent. We recently conducted a silent march on the 16th of November and also submitted a complaint to the Anjuna Police , Anjuna Panchayat and MLA Delilah Lobo.
We at Anjuna believe no matter where these events are claimed to be . We will always oppose them here in anjuna and elsewhere in goa.
Let no other Village suffer the same fate as that of Anjuna .
Without doubt, such money in exchange for jobs issue has been in force decades ago. I can clearly remember some of my friends way back in the 90s and post 90s trying to pay to secure govt jobs as it was like cracking a goldmine if you could get one. Back then , folks with good financial background would be part of this scheme. It was not a secret that it needed to be done in hush tones, maybe because one didn't want to get too involved if they failed to secure the job or there was a compromise. Even now if one needs to get to a prestigious post in any govt dept, there is a price tag for securing it. And I'm dead sure, that every Goan aspiring for such posts have been under"pressure" to pay to secure such posts. Ultimately, it boils down to whether you have the ' moolah' and are ready to pay or not.