Daijiworld Media Network - Panaji (SHP)
Panaji, Feb 5: Chief Minister of Goa, Pramod Sawant on Tuesday urged for a probe into the files that have gone missing. He stated that the officials concerned will be held accountable. Sawant was responding to an accusation by former deputy CM Vijai Sardesai that the agriculture minister may be responsible for the two files on community farming to go missing from the department. On November 3, 2019, in a report by TOI, information on files of the investment promotion board going missing from the chief minister’s office was published.
“Files from any department should not be lost,” CM said. “It is important to track the inward and outward movement of files. Those who are in charge should be held accountable.”
Sardesai said that around 13,408 hectares of land were lying fallow in the state. “If the government wanted to make use of this land, the only alternative was community farming," he said.
“This government may be allergic to me, but they should not be allergic to the scheme,” claimed Sardesai, a former agriculture minister. He said he doesn’t suspect officials of the agriculture department involved in the files going missing, but pointed a finger at the agriculture minister. Pointing to agriculture minister Chandrakant Kavlekar, Sardesai said, “I think on your instruction, the file has disappeared.” Kavlekar admitted that the files were missing, and said the ‘disappearing act’ happened when the former agriculture minister was sacked.
“I am not going to benefit in any way by taking the file,” Kavalekar said. “As soon as the former agriculture minister left, the file went missing. Where it went or where it got stuck is a mystery. We tried to trace the files and now we have also taken steps to recreate the files," he maintained.