Industries Minister Vishwajit Rane appointed Ms Purti Patkar as a Director of the Goa Industrial Development Corporation (GIDC) so illegally and in rank contravention of the rules. This has been revealed in the information obtained by me under the Right to Information Act (RTI) from the Industries department at the Secretariat.
Industries Minister Vishwajit Rane on 24th October 2019 moved a note seeking to appoint Ms Purti Patkar as a Director at the GIDC in place of our noted Industrialist Mr. Shekhar Sardessai. Directing that the order be issued by the Under Secretary, Vishwajit Rane in his note further stated that post facto government approval may be taken. Accordingly by a notification promptly issued on 4th November 2019 by Kuldeep Ulhas Arolkar the Under Secretary Industries, Ms Purti Patkar was appointed as a Director at the IDC replacing Mr. Shekhar Sardessai. Surprisingly that notification was issued without routing the file through the Chief Secretary and the Chief Minister as required by the rules. Interestingly as per Clause (hh) of Section 4 of the Goa Industrial Development Act, 1965, three persons having expertise in the fields of food processing/agriculture, biotechnology and pharma can be nominated by the Government on the IDC board. As per the file notings obtained under the RTI by there was nothing on record to show that Ms Purti Patkar possessed any of that expertise in those required fields. Vishwajit Rane who is also the Women & Child Development Minister had last year illegally appointed that very Ms Purti Patkar as the Chairperson of Women’s Commission but she resigned within seven months. Besides now being a Director at IDC, Ms Purti Patkar is currently also the OSD (Officer on Special Duty) in the office of Minister Vishwajit Rane. The board of the Goa Industrial Development Corporation was last reconstituted on 28th September 2017 with Aldona MLA Glenn Ticlo as Chairman. Of the four nominated members on the board Mr.Shekhar Sardessai was the only prominent and qualified Industrialist. A party worker of Glenn Ticlo, Mr. Jaivant Shivaji Desai was also surprisingly appointed and accommodated as Director. The three year term of this very controversial board ends next month. While recalling that the BJP and Manohar Parrikar at the 2012 Assembly election as part of their assurance of Good Governance and Zero Tolerance to Corruption had assured that only qualified persons with utmost expertise in their particular field would be appointed on Government Corporations, I would publicly appeal to Chief Minister Pramod Sawant to fulfil that BJP promise at least henceforth. Meanwhile, expressing concern that officers under duress were processing files contrary to rules and regulations, I would once again demand a probe into Vishwajit Rane’s nexus with Ms Purti Patkar, as people need to know as to how she has managed to creep into Goa and those corridors of Power. Aires Rodrigues Advocate High Court C/G-2, Shopping Complex Ribandar Retreat, Ribandar – Goa – 403006 Mobile No: 9822684372 Office Tel No: (0832) 2444012 Email: [email protected] Or [email protected] You can also reach me on Facebook.com/ AiresRodrigues Twitter@rodrigues_aires www.airesrodrigues.com
