TEAM HERALD
PANJIM: The Goa Chamber of Commerce and Industry has castigated the present government for its poor performance in several sectors especially Information Technology, distribution of tablets to students and saturation of Tourism sector.
In its pre-budget memorandum submitted to the government, the GCCI said the State “has seen very little development in IT sector” and that much can be done with little investment as opposed to flooding school students with PCs and tablets which are only “proving to be a distraction.”
“Instead of serving as an aid to education, these facilities are proving to be a distraction,” the GCCI said in their memorandum saying that they are being provided to students without proper infrastructure for providing proper IT education in the schools.
They cited the example of the Goa IT Innovation Centre (GITIC) started under the previous government. “Within two years of its starting, GITIC has shown that with little help in the form of infrastructure, Goan IT graduates can start small but good IT companies that can provide good employment opportunities locally,” the chamber said.
“GITIC, which has been started with a government grant of Rs 50 lakh has already graduated 10 companies started by young Goan IT graduates which are currently employing nearly 300 Goan IT graduates. Compare this with the proposed Investment Policy which talks about 50,000 jobs from Rs 25,000-crore investments ie investment of Rs 50 lakh to create one job,” the GCCI said.
They have rather recommended that schools be encouraged and funded to have tie-ups with companies like Google for making available the GPL tools and training for the trainers, and with BSNL to supply subsidized dongles to their students to access Internet at home and in the school besides tie-ups with foreign schools and universities.
They have also rapped the government for failing to bring in new investment saying, “In Goa, the growth of the manufacturing sector is stagnating at around 35% of the State GDP. No new and substantial investments are seen in this sector in the last 5 to 7 years.”
They have called for harsh measures such as the scrapping of the High Powered Coordination Committee (HPCC) and a new Investment Promotion Board be set up as a single window clearance agency. They also hit at the government for poorly marketing Tourism, no investment in Tourism infrastructure like theme parks, marinas, etc, as well as other attractions to bring in “high quality tourists.”
