July 31 – Goa Forward leader Vijay Sardessai alleged a multicore scam in Goa Broad Band Network(GBBN) project extension till 2027 and demanded judicial probe into the matter. He also warned of escalating the matter in the court of law. Vijai questioned as to why Rs 182 crore extension was given to the project for four years till 2027 despite finance department not being in favour of it. There is major technical non-compliance according to DoIT, Finance dept had said in its noting while suggesting that extension may not be considered for the project, said Vijai citing documents obtained through RTI. He also pointed out that in 2015, last mile connectivity through the project was flagged by Comptroller and Auditor General of India as poor and unstable. Minister Rohan Khaunte on his part defended the extension by saying that all E-governace projects of the govt are using the intranet and internet services provided through GBBN. Next 3 years wherein the extension has been given to GBBN will be used by the govt to set up a network to connect Goa using central funds. CAG raised issues are duly replied to, he added. House was told in a written reply that Rs 131.21 crore were given to UTL and other contractors from April 1, 2020 till date. Minister also informed the house that revenue to the tune of Rs 12 crore was given by UTL as Goa govt’s share of Gwave services revenue.
