‘Efforts on to provide safe driving environment’
Special Correspondent
Panaji: Governor PS Sreedharan Pillai on Thursday said the government has taken decisive action against fraudsters posing as agents for government jobs, and arrested 43 accused in the ‘cash for job’ scam.
“Three cases have been chargesheeted, and properties such as, vehicles, gold ornaments, bank accounts and other articles have been seized by the police,” he added, pointing out that the Goa Staff Selection Commission has been established to ensure transparent and merit-based recruitment for government jobs and eliminate any opportunity for fraudulent individuals to falsely claim as government job agents.
The Governor was delivering his customary address before the state legislative assembly on the first day of the winter session of the House.
Delivering his address, the Governor said the government has ensured that the law and order situation in the state remained under control, and the most significant feature of policing during 2024-25 up to November 2024 is that the crime detection percentage has gone up to 88.38 per cent.
“The government is making efforts to provide safe driving environment, with the launch of special drives to rein in drunken driving and overspeeding,” he noted.
The Governor maintained that a total of 4,91,796 traffic violation cases under the Motor Vehicles Act have been registered, and a fine of Rs 29.28 crore has been collected during the current financial year up to November 2024.
Furthermore, stating that Goa is the first state to constitute the Goa State School Standards Assessment and Accreditation Authority so as to ensure that the national education policy (NEP) 2020 is implemented to its fullest potential, Pillai said the NEP implementation will be completed in all grades by 2027-28 and that the next two years will be used for cluster formation and physical restructuring of the institutions wherever required so as to entirely complete the implementation in the state by 2030.
“In the year 2024-25, the NEP implementation was continued to Balvatika II in Foundational Stage and Grade IX of Secondary Stage,” he noted.
Announcing the introduction of the Chief Minister’s Suvidya Scheme to upgrade infrastructure and develop a productive academic environment, the Governor said 20 schools have been selected under the District Mineral Foundation for setting up smart classrooms, advanced digital infrastructure, and other facilities, while 20 other government schools have been chosen under corporate social responsibility for the establishment of STEM labs.
“All 87 government high schools and nine higher secondary schools have been provided with 30 tablets preloaded with skill-building software,” he added.
