PANJIM: Chief Minister Pramod Sawant on Thursday said that under the ‘Chief Minister’s Apprenticeship Scheme’, the government targets to provide employment to around 25,000 youths by 2022 in the government and private sector together.
Sawant announced the ‘Chief Minister’s Apprenticeship Scheme’, to be implemented through the Goa Human Resource Development Corporation (GHRDC) in the State Budget 2020-21, which was tabled on the floor of the House on Thursday afternoon. A budgetary provision of Rs five crore has been made towards the scheme.
Addressing media persons in a post budget conference, Chief Minister said that the implementation of the scheme will help in developing a work culture. “Under the scheme, we would be providing the required training to the graduates, post graduate students in various fields and they would be later observed by government, banks and the private sector. The aim is to ensure that every youth gets a job,” he said.
“Under the Central government scheme, Rs 1,500 per student is attributed towards the apprentice of the youth, and the State as well as private companies will also be contributing their individual shares,” he added.
“With the greenfield international airport coming up at Mopa, we would be able to generate around 25,000 jobs by 2022,” Sawant said.
Further, Sawant said that in order to ease the commutation to workplace in industrial estates, it is proposed to provide shuttle service buses from distant locations. “We have realized that many at times, youths don’t go for private jobs due to non-availability of transport facilities. Hence, we have decided to provide shuttle service, in three shifts across all the industrial estates,” he said.
The Chief Minister added that the government is in talks with the industrial association as well as the private players to understand the requirement of workforce and the facilities.
Speaking about Mopa airport, Sawant said that the first flight is expected to take off from Mopa in first quarter of 2022. “As announced, we would also be setting up a skill development center at Mopa for providing training to youth in order to equip them with the necessary skills for employment at airport,” he said.
