Panaji
: Goa Forward Party (GFP) has questioned the state government’s move to tie up with Axis Bank to disburse salaries to teachers of government aided institutions. The party has asked the government to explain how the private lender was chosen as the banking partner for the Mukhyamantri Guru Dakshina Yojana.
GFP vice president Dilip Prabhudesai said that a BJP leader from Maharashtra could have played a role in Axis Bank’s selection.
“Let the government tell us why it has picked Axis Bank. We want to know why Axis bank is being favoured,” said Prabhudesai. “Does it have something to do with a BJP leader in the ruling side of the Maharashtra government, who was also appointed as the in charge for elections in Goa?”
As part of the Mukhyamantri Guru Dakshina Yojana, which takes care of salaries of grant-in-aid institutions, the state government has asked aided schools to open bank accounts with Axis Bank. Henceforth, Axis Bank will process the salary payments.
In his earlier term as the chief minister of Maharashtra, Devendra Fadnavis had ordered government employees including police personnel to transfer their account to the Axis Bank. Fadnavis’ wife Amruta is a vice president with Axis Bank.
GFP has also claimed that the state government has only repackaged an existing practice into the new scheme. “The schemes that the government keeps bringing out have big names but the schemes themselves have nothing to offer. It claims to be a fully online salary disbursal process, which already existed anyway,” said Prabhudesai.
He said that the government is trying to exert control over teachers and government employees.
