Over the years the people of Goa had to endure utter nightmare at the Passport office. It was an everyday chaos and confusion. All this changed with the appointment of a Goa Civil Service Officer Agnelo Fernandes as the Passport Officer. To his credit Agnelo Fernandes speedily streamlined the working of the entire passport office to the satisfaction of one and all.
Surprisingly now the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has Suo Motu started a probe against Agnelo Fernandes. Suo Motu probes by the CBI are unheard of. How many such probes have they done? If Agnelo Fernandes has done something really wrong he should be punished. But if this is a part of the witch hunt being unleashed by the saffron brigade then it needs to be strongly deprecated. One of the allegations against Agnelo Fernandes is that a hundred bottles of foreign liquor were found at his residence. So what. Every Goan politician must have much more stored down their cellar. The Government needs to come clear on what it means by Zero Tolerance to Corruption. There cannot be double standards. On one side you target Agnelo Fernandes and on the other you allow alleged grossly corrupt officers to head vital departments. An example is the very saffronised Arun Desai who despite all the serious Vigilance probes pending against him continues as Director of Transport for the last over five years. He is at the helm of a department with multi channels and wide avenues for fueling corruption. To add to it the BJP government is elevating him to the Indian Administrative Service (IAS). The very affable and gregarious Agnelo Fernandes has been a very accessible and extremely cordial officer who has always ready to help one and all. May truth and Justice prevail. Aires Rodrigues Advocate High Court C/G-2, Shopping Complex Ribandar Retreat, Ribandar – Goa – 403006 Mobile No: 9822684372 Office Tel No: (0832) 2444012 Email: airesrodrigu...@gmail.com Or airesrodrig...@yahoo.com You can also reach me on Facebook.com/ AiresRodrigues Twitter@rodrigues_aires