09 Jul 2020  |   03:29am IST

Helping expat Goans get back to their basics on home ground

An initiative has been launched to induce the newly unemployed, especially seafarers, returning home, to learn some skill and start a business with the help of government schemes.

Team Café

The number of jobs lost around the world runs into tens of thousands. Lives have been changed overnight. The high-flying executive now reduced to sitting at home contemplating his or her future. For many Goans it is something similar. One day on a fancy liner sailing the Mediterranean Sea or perhaps even the Pacific Ocean and the next, learning that due to the virus, everything was up in the air. Now it can be safely said that approximately twenty thousand seamen have returned home wondering as to what their future holds for them. The economy, in general, was in a funk and the virus just made matters even worse. Finding a job now in this market is like trying to find water in the Sahara. There are however individuals and organisations working on ensuring this human capital is not wasted.

One of them happens to be Basil D’Cunha a career guidance counselor had sent out a message across Goa announcing that training would be imparted in seven areas. This would be in fields as diverse as catering, cakes and pickles, and piggery to name a few. He said they were looking for at least a hundred people who would be interested in learning these skills. There were, he said several schemes that could help the youth in the state start businesses but were sadly not being made use of by them. He said there were schemes where a person could get Rs 20 lakhs to start a business if the plan that was presented made economic sense. He said, “We are hoping to get at least twenty to twenty-five people to register for this program which will start next week”.

He said if one of them had a plan to start something similar to Mc Donald’s it would then mean another four or five would then come with him. One would prepare the bread, another the procuring of raw materials, and the rest in marketing it, then it would be a very good start. Then others seeing this would then be enthused to do something similar and start a business. This could then result in a chain reaction that could gradually change the economic landscape of the state.

Basil felt that it was quite obvious many of the seafarers would not get a job very soon in this market and many would not be keen to go back after their experiences. He said he spent most of his time talking to young people about starting a business. It would make sense, he said to gain experience working in a corporate and then it would be nice to go off and start a business. He said he was aware of the attraction for a government job but with the schemes available and the government's support, it would be very attractive to start a business.

One can hope and pray this initiative takes flight because in this economic scenario, jobs will be scarce and it would make sense to create one.   

Meanwhile, results are expected from the Ideas for Goa initiative which drew enough ideas for Goa’s economic revival to have one idea per day for a year. Stakeholders from all professions and walks of life debated and came up with out of the box ideas to revive key sectors of the Goan economy. These innovative ideas, many of which is about going back to the basics to generate employment need to be nurtured and given shape.