Tourism dept seeks vigilance probe into graft claims

Panaji: Acting on the allegations levelled by the Shack Owners Welfare Society (SOWS), the tourism department has asked the Directorate of Vigilance to conduct a probe into the complaints of corruption and extortion.
In May, SOWS secretary John Lobo had alleged that officials of the tourism department were extorting money and harassing shack operators, which had resulted in business losses.
“Since the matter is related to the shack policy, and the allegations levelled against the department and its officials are serious in nature, it is prudent to conduct an independent inquiry into the matter under the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, if necessary, and a report may be submitted to this department within 15 days,” said tourism director Suneel Anchipaka.
A week earlier, tourism minister Rohan Khaunte had acknowledged the allegations and said that he would initiate a probe to weed out the rot in his department. In the same breath, Khaunte had also suggested that the allegations were a political stunt that could malign the state’s tourism image and would not be taken lightly.
“Prima facie, Lobo’s name does not feature as a successful allotee under the Tourism Shack Policy 2019-2023. It is therefore not known how and where he erected his shack or how he suffered losses as alleged,” said Anchipaka.
The tourism department has submitted a list of all the successful shack allottees to the vigilance department. For the season from October to May, the tourism department issues about 340 to 350 licences through lots to set up shacks across beach stretches for the October to May period. Khaunte had said that 30% of these beach shacks are sublet to “Dilliwalas”, which needs to be stopped.
Khaunte had also asked Lobo to reveal the names of department officials who collect money or harass shack operators.