Complaint Filed Against Goa Chief Secretary, Senior Officers Over Alleged Misuse of Technology Device Reimbursement SchemePanaji, June 10: A formal complaint has been submitted to the Goa Government alleging that several senior bureaucrats, including Chief Secretary Dr. V. Candavelou, wrongfully availed financial benefits under the State’s “Scheme for Providing Technology Devices, including Computers to the Executive Officers of Goa Government.”The complaint, filed by Advocate Ajay A. Prabhugaonkar, claims that senior IAS and Goa Civil Service (GCS) officers received reimbursements of up to \u20b91 lakh for purchasing technology devices despite already being provided with government-funded electronic equipment in their offices and official residences.According to the complaint, the scheme, introduced by the General Administration Department through an Office Memorandum dated December 29, 2021, allows eligible officers to claim reimbursement for technology devices once every five years, subject to certain conditions. One of the key conditions reportedly states that officers should not have already received similar devices from their respective departments.The complainant has referred to a Legislative Assembly reply dated August 5, 2024, provided in response to a question raised by Leader of Opposition Yuri Alemao. The reply reportedly revealed that expenditure amounting to \u20b91.95 crore had been incurred under the scheme up to that date and listed several beneficiaries, including senior IAS officers and the present Chief Secretary.The complaint argues that senior officers, who are already equipped with government-funded desktops, printers, scanners, conference-room technology and other electronic devices, should not have been eligible to claim additional reimbursements. It further contends that public funds were used to purchase devices that ultimately become the personal property of the officers.The complainant has also questioned whether the scheme conflicts with an earlier Government memorandum issued in 2019, which restricted the cost of official mobile handsets provided to ministers and secretaries.Seeking immediate intervention, the complaint has demanded:Scrapping of the technology device reimbursement scheme.Declaration of all devices purchased through the scheme as Government property.Recovery of the reimbursement amount allegedly availed by ineligible officers, along with interest.A comprehensive inquiry into all beneficiaries who may have claimed the benefit despite already being provided technology devices by the Government.The complaint warns that if action is not initiated within ten days, the matter will be pursued before appropriate legal and administrative forums.As of now, no official response has been issued by the Goa Government or the officers named in the complaint. The allegations remain unverified and are yet to be independently examined by the competent authorities.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A formal complaint has been submitted to the Goa Government alleging that several senior bureaucrats, including Chief Secretary Dr. V. Candavelou, wrongfully availed financial benefits under the State’s “Scheme for Providing Technology Devices, including Computers to the Executive Officers of Goa Government.”<\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7044,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7045","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-main-story"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t