Over 450 veterinarian staff paid Rs 2 lakh to Rs 5 lakh in bribes for securing jobs
Over 450 veterinarian staff paid Rs 2 lakh to Rs 5 lakh in bribes for securing jobs
State government officials have gone into a huddle following the discovery of a Rs 100 crore scam involving the
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recruitment of over 450 veterinarian staff from June to October last year. The selected candidates are believed to have paid between Rs 2 lakh to Rs 5 lakh in bribes to officials of the Maharashtra Animal and Fisheries Sciences University (MAFSU) to secure their jobs.
Insiders have expressed fears that the quality of veterinarian care may suffer, as vets from MAFSU are deputed to various government-owned animal treatment centres across the country. "Ill-qualified doctors and staff will now attend to ailing animals. Imagine the level of healthcare the animals will get," said a head of department at the veterinarian college in Parel.
Enquiry
Animal Dairy and Fisheries Secretary Shyam Lal Goyal told this correspondent that an enquiry into the irregularities was on.
Interestingly, it is a junior officer in MAFSU who is investigating the scam and not the Anti-Corruption Bureau, which is generally in charge of investigating scams of this nature.
The move, according to sources who do not wish to be named, intends to scuttle the probe, which may implicate many senior MAFSU officials. The scam came to light after hundreds of aspiring candidates, who did not get the jobs despite paying a hefty amount as bribes, complained.
No clue
The appointments were reportedly made 18 months after the posts were advertised in the newspapers. The aspirants are believed to have had no clue about who had finally made it to the final merit list based on performance and personal interviews.
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