EDITORIAL
Fixing recruitment fraud system matters more than blaming desperate jobseekers
Job scams are not new to Goa. Two years ago, the state was rocked by cash-for-government job scams that saw several youngsters pay crores of rupees to secure government jobs. On Thursday, Goa saw a peculiar case. A son of a retired police official turned up at the office of the Excise Commissioner. That was not all; he came to take charge as the Excise Commissioner, a post that had recently become vacant. Soon, there was a buzz about how there had been no intimation from the government to the Excise Department regarding the posting of a new senior officer. When enquiries were made, the man showed his “appointment letter”. Suspecting something fishy, the police were informed. Initially, the police thought the man was impersonating an officer but soon realised that he was the victim of a job scam. He provided details of how he had obtained the “appointment letter”. Accordingly, a senior officer of the Excise Department filed a formal complaint with the police, and an FIR has been registered. On Friday, it was revealed that the young man’s sister was cheated in a cash-for-government job scam.
This is a strange case compared to the several cases registered with the police in 2024-25. In none of those cases had the “selected” person gone to the extent of “joining duty”. The latest incident also shows that job scams are continuing. The number may be low. In 2024, the accused, who were mainly women, had offered jobs in different departments. Jobseekers indicated that the agents had connections with the “higher-ups” and had secured jobs for people in the past. That was the perception. FIRs were registered at several police stations when the victims did not get jobs. One accused woman reiterated that she had already named the officials in 2024, when she was arrested, but the investigation was never taken to its logical conclusion. In November 2025, one accused, also a woman, charged that a minister and two senior officers were involved. Police investigations revealed that she had received more than Rs 17.6 crore from jobseekers.
The police have a greater responsibility now. The truth must come out, and those involved must be booked. The latest case must be investigated thoroughly. Can it be a one-man job? The police need to find out who in the government, if anyone, is involved in the fraud. It looks as though the 2024 scam only took a long pause. Are more job aspirants already in the net of fraudsters promising government jobs? The government must appeal to all jobseekers to come forward publicly and declare how much they have paid and to whom. This must be done transparently. It will also help establish whether there is any link with the “higher-ups”. The perception is that the police investigation is not independent.
The other aspect is that such job scams show how desperate jobseekers are for government jobs. Several factors, including fewer job opportunities at the middle and senior levels in the private sector, the alleged selection of candidates for government jobs without regard to merit, companies from outside Goa operating in the state not preferring locals, poor salaries in the private sector and a lack of entrepreneurship among Goans, have compelled jobseekers to move out of Goa and the country. Goans also fall victim to overseas recruitment rackets. It is a sad story for a small state which, ironically, has a high per capita income and hundreds of banks across the state. The government must do more to reassure the youth that they can get jobs on merit.
