A clipping of the advertisement

PANAJI: A newspaper advertisement released by the fisheries department for a driver’s post, stating that knowledge of Gujarati apart from Konkani and Marathi was desirable as a qualification, kicked off a furore in some quarters. The post was advertised as a leave vacancy on contract basis for one year.

Following an outcry, fisheries minister Vinod Palyekar said he had ordered that the advertisement be immediately revoked for stating that knowledge of Gujarati was desirable for the post. “This is totally unacceptable and those officers involved in this will be acted upon,” he tweeted. Officials of the fisheries department, however, were not available for comment.

In another incident two years ago, the directorate of women and child development had advertised vacancies for 14 posts of female probation officers, on contract basis, for a period of one year. The advertisement had similarly stated that knowledge of Marathi/Konkani/Gujarati was a ‘desirable qualification’ for the post.

The advertisement had evoked criticism and Niz Goenkar Revolution Front (NGRF), a party, had submitted a memorandum to the director to withdraw the requirement of knowledge of Gujarati. It has also accused the department of permitting back-door entry to Gujarati candidates and denying Goan candidates of the vacancies.

In 2016, Goa Forward Party (GFP) spokesperson Durgadas Kamat had welcomed the NGRF’s move and had asked the chief secretary to probe the matter. The party had even threatened to protest if the correction wasn’t made. The directorate had later published a corrigendum removing “knowledge of Gujarati”as a “desirable qualification”for the posts.

The director had said the advertisement was printed according to old recruitment rules when Goa was part of the Union territory of Goa, Daman and Diu , and had said that the department would seek an amendment.

