23 Sep 2021  |   06:16am IST

Put money in the pockets of Goans by making them self-reliant

Put money in the pockets of Goans  by making them self-reliant

l An employment and self-employment policy is the need of the hour

l If financially secure, people should feel that this is my government and we can get things done

l The employment policy of 1991 should be the template of any future employment policy

Joblessness and prolonged periods of no earnings, mainly due to the pandemic, has made political parties anxious to address this. More than free power, or water, financial stability and job security have become issues of daily importance. Homes and futures need to be secured before we look at the world outside. And this is where Goans are suffering the most.
Unemployment assistance can only be short ter, Goans need clear earning and employment planning
Unemployment assistance and other amounts to cover those who are in mining and tourism may sound like reliefs in a poll-bound state but are these NOT the only sufferers. There are so many Goans in farming, agriculture and in small businesses. Hence Rs 3000 for one unemployed per family but 5000 for those in tourism and mining, announced by one of the parties, need to be tested on grounds of practicality and implementation.
The task of specifying who qualifies as a member of a “mining and tourism affected family” will be a huge task because virtually every small worker business person or businessman can draw linkages to either of the sectors, Has an exercise been drawn up to decide how such people will be identified?
Recover mining loot, and make Goa corruption-free. You’ll have money for all unemployed
Funding a major project like giving unemployment benefits need cash flow which the state does not have. All the state has to do is recover the current illegal-mining recovery demand of about Rs 35000 crore and work towards the first projection of recovery due to illegal mining is about Rs 3500 crore. This is the people’s money and if it is brought back for the use of the people it can support every unemployed in Goa. Once this is done and businesses slowly revive, self-employment will increase and reduce pressure on the need for job creation of that scale.
Even if a small percentage of this recovery is diverted to creating tourism infrastructure, especially with the pandemic still not over, self-employment will increase and these businesses will create further jobs.
Firstly, the term “Goan” has been defined for such purposes in Luizinho Faleiro’s employment policy of 1991
The definition of Goan, with regard to such policies, was laid down by the State’s first-ever Employment Policy of 1991, by then Labour Minister Luizinho Faleiro – 15 years domicile (and sons and daughters of the soil of course) and knowledge of Konkani. There is no reason to alter that definition.
Under this policy, government jobs were reserved for every Goan eligible for that post, which led to a 100% Goan bureaucracy barring the IAS officers. 
In the private sector, entrepreneurs were given incentives, if they recruited 80% Goans with provisional registration for their units within 24 hours. They received the following incentives (a) A salary subsidy of Rs 15000 per year, for every Goan youth employed b) Income Tax Holiday for 5 years c) 25% subsidy of capital investment d) Sales Tax Holiday for 15 years.
If 80% of Goans were not employed, permanent registration was withheld, incentives denied. This was a clear ‘Pro-Goan, Pro-Sons of the Soil’ move in employment.
The Goa Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI) weren’t too happy with these moves and continued to raise these objections. Once this government left office, these policies too collapsed.
Self-employment and economic stability is the answer, not just job reservations
Small businesses need to run, tenders and work orders should come to all, loans should be easily disbursed. When jobs and businesses grow, money is injected into the economy.
Jobs need to be created in the agriculture sector with agro-based industries like food processing.
All this is practical and deliverable only when there is a strong will and the desire and effort to implement it. No policy can work if the people in charge of implementing these policies do not work towards making them effective.
Goans go abroad for jobs because the state has failed. However, the state can help Goans to fund them good jobs abroad to reduce pressure at home
Goans are forced to leave their home comforts and their land and look for jobs abroad. Over time most do well and spend more time there. Often middlemen and agents seek from foreign job seekers lakhs of rupees. The state can set up a mechanism where it provides guidance, counselling and even placement of Goans seeking employment abroad, with perhaps a condition that they will devote at least five years of their working lives, at any time of their choosing in the service of Goa.
These policies should be so appealing that Goans can say this is my government
People need to feel that the government cares. This is not about parties but about what kind of governance people of Goa want. Can we have a government where the people say “I can get my job done here?” And that too, legally and without paying bribes.
If there is a government of the people, which has a clear roadmap of financial security for every Goan, Herald will surely back such a government, a government that makes people feel safe, secure and financially sound. And if people back such a government Herald will back a government that people support with their hearts.

IDhar UDHAR

Idhar Udhar