Opposition in Goa targets BJP over rising unemployment in the state

Panaji : Chief Minister Pramod Sawant is confident that all youth in the state can get jobs even as Opposition accuses his administration of setting a false narrative about the ‘rising’ unemployment rate.

The Congress, the Goa Forward Party and Aam Aadmi Party have targeted the BJP government over its pre-poll promises of providing jobs to the youth of Goa.

Leader of Opposition Yuri Alemao recently said that the tall claims of the BJP government have fallen flat with Goa ranking second in unemployment rate in October.

“BJP government headed by Chief Minister Pramod Sawant has time and again tried to set a false narrative about the rising unemployment rate in Goa. The tall claims of the BJP government on employment generation have fallen flat with the latest Annual Report of Ministry of Statistics Programme Implementation ranking Goa second in the country with 9.7 per cent unemployment rate -- 3.2 per cent above the national average,” Alemao said.

He had demanded that the Chief Minister must immediately release a ‘White Paper’ on unemployment in Goa.

The Congress leader said that it is loud and clear that the ‘Rojgar Melas’, and ‘Mega Job Fairs’ organised by the Central and state governments are "nothing but publicity stunts".

“The government of Goa had spent Rs 3.1 crores on the Mega Job Fair-2022 which provided employment to hardly 576 youths out of 21,780 young people who had registered for the job fair,” Alemao added.

However, Chief Minister Sawant recently claimed there are several ITI courses that can be pursued to get a job or self-employment. Highlighting the importance of these courses, he said that plumbers "charge more fees than doctors for a single visit".

"We need to take education considering the availability of jobs or should think of self-employment. Everyone can't get government jobs. But 100 per cent youth of Goa can get jobs, which are available in the private sector. We need to take education in the fields where jobs are available," he said, urging students to pursue courses at Industrial Training Institutes (ITI).

"This can help with self-employment. Why not become a plumbing contractor? Plumbers charge around Rs 500 after every visit. Their fees have become higher than doctors'. There are so many options available at ITIs," he said.

"Everyone can’t become a doctor, engineer or clerk," Sawant said, urging students to take additional degrees.

"There are several opportunities in Goa in tourism and wellness tourism. Three months ago there was an advertisement for a 'Panchkarma' assistant. But in Goa, we had no one with this qualification," he said, highlighting the importance of career-oriented courses.

"In the aviation cell, we gave training to 1500 youths and they could work at Mopa airport,” Sawant said.

He asserted that several job opportunities are available in the hospitality sector in the state, which can be grabbed by youths.

In the last one year, Sawant has been seen on multiple occasions urging unemployed youths to focus on skilling, upskilling and reskilling to get good jobs in the private sector because "everyone can't get government jobs".

“If Goans would lack the skills in the tourism and hospitality sector, then outsiders will come and grab the job opportunities. There is wide scope in the tourism and hospitality sector in Goa. You will not find such scope anywhere else in the country," he had said.

In June last year, Sawant said that if the youths from Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar can work in Goa in the hospitality sector, then why not Goans?

IANS with edits